Friday the 13th: Part VII - The New Blood Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Friday the 13th: Part VII - The New Blood Blu-ray Movie Review

Scream Factory via Shout! Factory has released the 1988 Horror franchise film 'Friday the 13th: Part VII - The New Blood' to Blu-ray with a high quality 1080p transfer and a pair of lossless soundtrack options. Several supplements are included as well, carrying over the extras from Warner Brothers' disc found in the 2013 collection and adding a few new ones. It's an excellent Blu-ray. It is currently only available in the exciting, and limited, Friday the 13th Collection which includes all 12 films featuring killer Jason Voorhees as well as two bonus discs.

Friday the 13th: Part VII - The New Blood Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Friday the 13th: Part VII - The New Blood's 1080p transfer is not quite as attractive as the previous films in the Shout! Factory collection, with the exception the visually divergent Part III, at least considering its 2-D presentation. Grain is a little less fine and refined, appearing here more dense and aggressive. Black levels are lighter, too, lacking that inky depth from pervious outings. It's still a good image, enjoying quality detail and satisfactory color output. The picture reveals all of Jason's gory details with fine clarity, including his exposed spine, tattered clothes, peeling skin, and the wear and tear on the famous hockey mask (not to mention the nastiness underneath it). Daytime scenes reveal well-rounded complexity to trees and fallen leaves, 80s clothes (denim jackets, sweaters), and fine skin details. Colors are healthy, like a blue denim jacket and red blood. The earthy fall leaves lining the ground also add a distinct tonal flavor to the film. The picture is free of serious source blemish and the encode appears to be rock-solid. Though the least of the series so far in terms of native 2-D pictures, the quality is still rather good in the aggregate.

Friday the 13th: Part VII - The New Blood Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Friday the 13th: Part VII - The New Blood includes a pair of lossless soundtrack options: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 stereo. Much like the stereo track in Part VI, Part VII's 2.0 track holds its own. It's arguably more aggressive, but it's also lacking clarity and finesse. Dialogue is a little shrilly and not always perfectly imaged to the center, either. Sound effects likewise lack the distinction, detail, and definition found in the 5.1 track. The 5.1 track offers some good hard hitting depth and solid detail during some of the climactic moments when Tina brings down the pain on Jason through various means, including collapsing a structure on top of him. It's not enough to keep him down, but enough to temporarily disable him and give the characters a reprieve. It's also a good example of the differences between the tracks, with the 2.0 presentation more boisterous but less detailed, the 5.1 track a little more refined, fuller, and presenting with superior clarity. 5.1 dialogue is clear and center focused. As with all of the other tracks, the multichannel effort comes out on top, but the 2.0 track is a perfectly viable listen.

Friday the 13th: Part VII - The New Blood Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Friday the 13th: Part VII - The New Blood includes a blend of new and returning supplements. New content is marked as such. Please click here for coverage of the carryover content. Note that The Friday the 13th Chronicles and Secrets Galore Behind the Gore were included on the Warner Brothers disc but appear on the bonus discs for the collection, not on this film's disc.

• NEW! Audio Commentary: Director John Carl Buechler and Actor Kane Hodder. Note that this track is not newly recorded, but new to Blu-ray.
• Audio Commentary: Director John Carl Buechler and Actors Lar Park Lincoln and Kane Hodder.
• Jason's Destroyer: The Making of Friday the 13th, Part VII
• Mind Over Matter: The Truth About Telekinesis
• Makeover by Maddy: Needs a Little Touch-Up Work, My A**
• Slashed Scenes with Introduction by Director John Carl Buechler
• Theatrical Trailer
• NEW! TV Spots (1080i, 1:49 total runtime).
• NEW! Posters and Behind the Scenes Gallery (1080i, 3:13): Images and ads from around the world.
• NEW! Still Gallery (10801, 4:32): The images advance automatically. There is no musical accompaniment.
• NEW! Fangoria Articles: Accessible only via PC Blu-ray drive.

Friday the 13th: Part VII - The New Blood Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite introducing the telekinesis dynamic, the movie is fundamentally the same as is predecessors. Jason stalks a number of teenagers and kills them in a variety of brutal ways, leading to a showdown with a final girl who is obvious from the outset. It's just familiar enough to be comfortable and just different enough to stand apart, even if it channels some of the paranormal aspects found in the Nightmare on Elm Street series. Shout!'s Blu-ray is probably the least of the first seven films, though it's still a solid release. Video is a step down from previous outings, but the audio is fine and supplements are good, even if there's little here that's new and noteworthy. Recommended.