Vendredi 13 Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray Review, Digi Mart USA News: The film was shot mainly in Super 35 using Panavision Panaflex cameras. This Ultra HD edition presents a 4K master based on a restoration scanned from the original negatives dating from 2022, retaining the 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
The disc offers a 4K master, HEVC/H.265 compression, the BT.2020 color space with WCG, and HDR10 and Dolby Vision presentations. The reviewer notes that the film’s limited budget and technical constraints of its shoot mean some original defects, particularly focus issues in certain shots, could not be corrected.
Film grain is clearly present, with a texture that is sometimes fairly coarse, which the reviewer considers consistent with the source material. Film defects were carefully cleaned, and no stability problems were noted.
The reviewer finds a genuine gain in definition compared with the 2009 Blu-ray, with a more precise image and noticeably greater detail. Close-ups of faces, makeup and horror special effects benefit particularly, while costume textures, the wooden chalets and surrounding vegetation also gain precision.
The HDR grading is described as largely convincing, though not without imperfections. The image is noticeably darker than the previous Blu-ray, and some low-light scenes, especially night sequences, lose a little legibility, a choice the reviewer says reinforces the film’s unsettling atmosphere.
Colors are properly saturated and can be especially vivid, notably the yellow and red rain gear worn by the characters. The main flaw is overexposure in some highlights, such as the white dock at the start of the film and when the lights come on in the archery range.
Skin tones and whites are generally well rendered.
The reviewer detected no compression problems. Overall, the restoration offers a real improvement over the 2009 Blu-ray, with clearly better definition, improved textures and natural film grain, despite some limitations inherent in the source material and minor HDR grading issues.
Warner Bros France offers a new English audio track in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, replacing the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track of the previous Blu-ray. The mix is relatively front-oriented, with clear, intelligible dialogue mostly carried by the center speaker, while the surround channels effectively handle ambient effects such as forest animals, vehicles, motorcycles and rain.
Music is well distributed across the rear channels, and the LFE channel is used sparingly but appropriately.
The French track remains in Dolby Digital 2.0 with no change. The reviewer notes its stereo mix and compression limit its possibilities, though effects and music are reasonably spread across both speakers.
French dialogue sits slightly loud and occasionally encroaches on the original mix, which the reviewer considers typical of an older French track for a low-budget horror film approaching 50 years old.
No new bonus features are included with this edition; the previous extras are carried over on the Blu-ray. The film’s premise is summarized: in 1957 a young boy named Jason drowns at Crystal Lake camp, and the following year the two camp counselors are killed and the camp closes.
In 1980, Steve Christy decides to reopen it on a Friday the 13th, the anniversary of those deaths twenty-three years earlier, and staff begin disappearing one by one during preparations.
The review was published by Culturellement Vôtre and has not been independently verified. The reviewer concludes the release is a satisfying 4K presentation for rediscovering this horror classic despite some reservations.
