Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Orphan: First Kill 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Paramount has released the film 'Orphan: First Kill' to the UHD format. New specifications include 2160p/Dolby Vision video. This new issue simply ports over the 2022 Blu-ray's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Like that Blu-ray, the UHD is featureless; Paramount has not included any extras for the occasion of this release. At time of writing, this UHD release is only available as part of the four film Paramount Scares: Volume 2 collection.

Orphan: First Kill 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from the UHD disc output at 1080p. They are not representative of the UHD/Dolby Vision image you will see on your screen.

Paramount's UHD release of Orphan: First Kill, at time of writing part of the second volume off the "Paramount Scares" collection, is adequate, I guess, but I can't really commend the UHD much more than that. It's not that the disc looks inherently poor, it's just that this is a rather visually bland movie, lacking real visual appeal. It's a flat, drab film. In the Blu-ray review, I wrote, "this is not the most attractive film on the market," and that is certainly still the case. It's an odd choice for a themed 4K boxed set because the film really has nothing to offer in terms of 4K delights, but whatever.

I'll address the Dolby Vision grading first. There's definitely a sense of deeper and slightly richer colors at work, especially evident on the film's title card, which shows some neon purples against a black background. Those colors are little bolder here but don't really leap off the screen with any zest or standout vividness. The black levels accompanying are nothing home to write home about, maybe a shade deeper than the Blu-ray but hardly the stuff of format legend. Fast forward to the rest of the film, which ranges from gauzy and dreamy in some places to, at best, rather pale and bland and flat in most of its runtime. There's not much opportunity for real color explosion. Some red blood stands out, I guess, as a highlight, but even blood red is fairly muted as it is. The film plays in an arena that just doesn't really allow for color pop, and while the Dolby Vision grading certainly enhances accuracy and overall depth, this is not at all a film that was crying out for Dolby Vision over the Blu-ray's SDR palette. Black levels continue to look a little pale, in large part following the movie's inherent stylings, and whites are a little crisper but, again, the movie's construct simply doesn't lend itself to producing a color spectrum, even in Dolby Vision, that allows anything of real visual interest to stand out. For the added depth and accuracy, sure, this is the best look for the film, but it's a subtle upgrade over the Blu-ray rather than a transformative one.

And, really, repeat for the 2160p resolution elements. The film is, again, in no way a looker. And that translates to the UHD. It's a flat film with no real sense of big, expressive textures to consider. Sure the UHD is a little sharper, and certainly some close-ups (like bloody hands playing a piano early on) manage to showcase some additional texturing and clarity that the Blu-ray cannot capture but...that's really the whole story of the Orphan: First Kill viewing experience: it's a marginal upgrade from the Blu-ray that I suppose brings out the very best the digital elements have on offer but that's really not much more than the Blu-ray already presents. Viewers will find subtle adds to location detail, hair and skin clarity, and clothing definition, and that's really about it. The UHD does keep noise fairly well in check, and the encode seems fine, but overall this is a bland looking movie that yields a bland UHD. I'm keeping the 3.5/5.0 score that I awarded the Blu-ray because I feel that is a fair middle ground that states that the UHD is adequate in bringing the film elements to the screen in a faithful presentation, but also signaling that this is in no way a demo UHD with any sort of "wow" factor whatsoever.

Orphan: First Kill 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As noted in the introduction to this review, the UHD disc merely ports over the 2022 Blu-ray's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. As is the studio's custom, Paramount has chosen not to offer a new soundtrack, such as Dolby Atmos. For full coverage of the included audio track please click here.

Orphan: First Kill 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Like the 2022 Blu-ry before it, this UHD release of Orphan: First Kill contains no supplemental content. Both discs even include nearly identical menu screens. Outside of the highlight color being blue on the Blu-ray and yellow on the UHD, one would be hard pressed to identify which disc was in the player based strictly on the menu screen. As it ships in the second volume of the Paramount Scares collection, a slipcover (which matches the other films in the set) and a digital copy code are included.

Orphan: First Kill 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I haven's been following the online chatter surrounding Orphan: First Kill, but I can't believe that the film was all that high on anyone's "get this film on UHD, STAT!" list. It feels like a last-minute toss-in to what is just about (in my opinion) the most random "themed" box I've ever seen. Here's a movie that's decent for what it is, sure, but it's in a boxed set that seems, at least in but a second volume, that it could have scared up (sorry for the pun) something with a little more teeth, with a bit more history behind it, higher up on serious wishlists for 4K releases, than this. And indeed the UHD feels like a total afterthought. It's featureless, as was its Blu-ray predecessor, the audio is the same as its Blu-ray predecessor, and the picture quality is certainly not leaps and bounds better than its Blu-ray predecessor. It's not even a particularly attractive movie as it is. But here it is, watchable, but not a whole lot more.