Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Pray for Death Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 20, 2025

Gordon Hessler's "Pray for Death" (1985) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include archival program with Sho Kosugi; new audio commentary by critic Mike Leeder and director Ross Boyask; and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Japanese businessman Akira Saito (Sho Kosugi) is convinced by his beautiful American wife (Donna Kei Benz, The Challenge) that they can have a much better life in Huston, Texas. With their savings, they purchase a rundown café and then enthusiastically pack up their bags.

It turns out, however, that the café is in a seedy part of town and that one of its storage rooms is secretly used by a couple of dirty cops who are working with the area’s biggest crime organization. When a very expensive stolen necklace disappears from the room, the leader of the organization orders his goons to rough up Akira and force him to return the necklace. But the goons underestimate Akira and all hell breaks loose.

Gordon Hessler’s Pray for Death is difficult to like, even if one has a soft spot for old-fashioned ninja films. Indeed, it rehashes just about everything that Kosugi did in the Ninja Trilogy (Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, and Ninja III: The Domination) and ramps up the graphic violence, but it also adds a huge dose of melodrama. The end result is a film that is incredibly uneven and absolutely impossible to take seriously.

Kosugi plays two characters with drastically different views of life. The businessman is a quiet father and husband who dreams of growing old and enjoying the simple things life has to offer. He has a past that occasionally bothers him, but he feels that he is on the right path to happiness. The second character is a fearless assassin who never trusted the businessman. (This actually happens to be one of the few elements of the plot that makes some sense). So when he is called out he returns determined to prove that he was never locked in the past.

The material, however, is so banal that neither the businessman nor the assassin emerges as a believable character. The former looks completely out of sync until the transformation is initiated, while the latter acts as if he is participating in a competition of some sort and has a limited amount of time to impress with oddly choreographed fights featuring various amateurs. (As if this wasn’t bad enough, one of his young boys also joins the fun and confronts a few of the goons).

Kino Lorber’s new release of Pray for Death features two versions of the film: the longer Unrated Version, which is approximately 98 minutes long (01.38.27), and the shorter R-Rated Version, which is approximately 95 minutes long (01.34.31). The Unrated Version adds up a few inserts with additional graphic footage. It is preferable, but it does not change the structure of the narrative, and certainly does not improve the quality of the action scenes.

Hessler shot Pray for Death with cinematographer Roy H. Wagner. His art director was Adrian Gorton, who a few years later worked with Clint Eastwood on the multiple Oscar-winning western Unforgiven.

Pray for Death Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.34:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Pray for Death arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

In 2016, Arrow Video produced this release of Pray for Death for the U.S. market, which is the only other release of the film I have in my library. Like Arrow Video's release, Kino Lorber's release presents the Unrated Version and R-Rated Version of the film. However, Kino Lorber's release is a two-disc set. It gives each version a dual-layer disc.

The film has not been restored, so the same older MGM master that was used to produce Arrow Video's release was accessed for this release. I revisited the Unrated Version and still think that the overall quality of the visuals is fine. However, I still think it is very easy to tell that ideally the film should look better. For example, in various darker footage, shadow definition can be better. Inconsistencies with clarity and depth can be spotted, too. Of course, the rougher looking inserts on the Unrated Version still look the same. While color balance is fine, various primaries and supporting nuances could and should look healthier and better saturated. So, why is the overall quality of the visuals fine? There are no traces of compromising digital corrections. As a result, even in areas where the limitations of the current master become obvious, the visuals still have decent filmic qualities. Image stability is good. There are no distracting age-related imperfections, such as large damage marks, cut, debris, etc. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Pray for Death Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

Dialog is clear and easy to follow. The film benefits quite a lot from a nice retro soundtrack, which the lossless track handles quite well. During action material, dynamic movement is good, too. However, I suspect that if one day the audio is fully remastered, there will be areas that sound fuller and better rounded. There are no encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Pray for Death Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

BLU-RAY DISC ONE - UNRATED VERSION

• Sho and Tell Part 1: Birth of a Ninja - in this archival program, Sho Kosugi discusses his childhood years in Japan, his relocation to the U.S., his very early work in the film business, the production history of Pray for Death, etc. The interview was conducted in Japan in October 2015. In English, not subtitled. (20 min).

BLU-RAY DISC TWO - R-RATED VERSION

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critic Mike Leeder and director Ross Boyask (I Am Vengeance). The commentators, both big Sho Kosugi fans, declare that Pray for Death is "iconic for us in ways that many people would never understand", and proceed to explain why various ninja films were censored and considered bad in the United Kingdom during the 1990s. From there, they veer off in various directions, often discussing completely unrelated subjects.

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Pray for Death. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

Pray for Death Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Gordon Hessler's Pray for Death is impossible to take seriously. There are a few bits where the action is enjoyable, but the rest looks quite silly. Admittedly, many of these genre films can be quite attractive when they ignore precisely what the 'serious' films do in order to impress, but I don't think that this film is firmly in the opposite camp either. It feels like it is stuck somewhere in between. If you are a fan of Sho Kosugi's work, then you will have a good time with it, but if you are not, it is best to find a way to rent it first.