Hell Of A Summer (2023/Neon DVD)/Lost In Space 4K (1998/Warner/New Line/MVD/Arrow 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)/The Ritual (2025/Decal Blu-ray)

4K Ultra HD Picture: A- Picture: B-/X/B+ Sound: B-/A-/B+ Extras: B/B/C+ Films: C+/B/C

Up next are two horror films and a feature film remake of a sci-fi adventure with some cues form the horror genre...

Written and directed by Finn Wolfhard (Ghostbusters, Stranger Things) along with co-star Billy Bryk, Hell of a Summer (2023) is a stylized slasher film from Neon now out on DVD. The film is a mashup of Friday the 13th and Scream franchises and has a keen sense of humor mixed into the horror. The screenplay cleverly sets up the killer in a deceptive way that works pretty well and the cast is pretty fun and play off each other in a natural way.

Camp counselor Jason Hochberg (Fred Hechinger) is the odd ball in the group at an annual summer camp. When a masked killer starts killing off the other counselors, Hochberg is assumed to be the killer due to his lack of popularity. However, the truth behind the murders is much more sinister and complicated than just that.

The film stars Finn Wolfhard, Billy Bryk, Fred Hechinger, Pardis Saremi, Abby Quinn, Krista Nazaire, Daniel Gravelle, Julia Lalonde, Matthew Finlan.

Hell of a Summer is presented in standard definition (480i) on DVD with a 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio and a lossy 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio mix. The compressed image of the nicely photographed film doesn't do it a lot of justice when watching on a 4K UHD display. The film is also available on Blu-ray, but no 4K UHD as of this writing.

Special Features:

Commentary with Billy Bryk, Finn Wolfhard, and Fred Hechinger

Blooper Reel

Fireside Chat

Spoiler Alert featuring Ruben Rabasa

Rated Rizzler

and a Pineway Bus Toor

If you're a fan of the aforementioned slasher franchises then Hell of a Summer is a pretty entertaining watch. The filmmaking is stylized and interesting and the young cast has a lot of energy with a few pretty brutal kills.

Lost In Space (1998) may not be among other sci-fi classics with some pretty lackluster reviews from most critics, but in hindsight there is plenty to love about the film and it has a lot to offer sci-fi / genre fans especially those who love the original series.

After failing to launch a franchise consisting of multiple sequels after a lackluster box office run in 1998, Lost in Space finally gets a 4K UHD release on disc from Arrow after coming out stateside Blu-ray only from Shout Factory last year.

Personally, I think the film is a blast. First off the cast is outstanding with Matthew LeBlanc, William Hurt, Mimi Rogers, Heather Graham, Lacey Chabert, Jarred Harris, Jack Johnson, and of course Gary Oldman to name a few. The film has some fun characters, an interesting screenplay, a heart pounding score, and mutated spider sequences that hold up quite well.

The film is directed by genre veteran Stephen Hopkins (Predator 2, Tales From the Crypt, A Nightmare on Elm Street 5) who deserves a lot of credit for what he bulled off on a large budget compared to today's blockbusters. We can't forget the Robots either as they are the stars of the show. We have two different versions of the Rambler-Crane series robot: one that channels the look of the original and a newer design that really captured this reviewer's imagination at a young age and that is featured on the cover of this release. There are a few cameos from the original series including a silly one by June Lockhart, Angela Cartwright, Mark Goddard, and Marta Kristen, but a couple key cast members declined involvement due to odd choices made by the studio at the time.

A tribute to the 1960s hot TV series, Lost in Space follows the Robinson Family, a hot shot pilot, a saboteur, and a cutting edge robot in the year 2058 who volunteer to travel to space in an attempt to colonize a distant planet. When the space mission goes awry thanks to Dr. Zachary Smith (Oldman), the mission gets sidetracked and they end up in a dangerous rift in space-time. When they crash land on a distant planet after investigating a ship infested with mutant spiders, they come face to face with an astonishing revelation of a possible future that has to be prevented or all hope (and the mission) will be lost.

Lost in Space is presented in 2160p on 4K UHD disc with HEVC/H.265, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and an audio track in lossless English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) that has been a fan favorite and home theater fan demo favorite for a long time.

The musical score to the film by Bruce Broughton is criminally underrated and I highly suggest listening to it on its own if you're a fan of this film. In many ways it channels the music of John Williams and has some incredible themes and an action score that is highly memorable. At the time of the film's release there were two soundtracks and even the various artists soundtrack is pretty great with a great modern rendition of the classic John Williams TV show theme. Unfortunately neither are available in this set, but worth checking out.

Special Features:

Archive audio commentary with director Stephen Hopkins and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman

Archive audio commentary with visual effects supervisors Angus Bickerton and Lauren Ritchie, director of photography Peter Levy, editor Ray Lovejoy, and producer Carla FrY

A Space Odyssey, a newly filmed interview with director Stephen Hopkins

Lights in the Sky, a newly filmed interview with director of photography Peter Levy

A Journey Through Time, a newly filmed interview with producer and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman

Art of Space, a newly filmed interview with supervising art director Keith Pain

Crafting Reality, a newly filmed interview with Kenny Wilson, former mould shop supervisor at Jim Henson's Creature Shop

Sound of Space, a newly filmed interview with sound mixer Simon Kaye and re-recording mixer Robin O'Donohue

Lost But Not Forgotten in Space, a new video essay by film critic Matt Donato

Deleted Scenes

Building the Special Effects, an archival featurette with visual effects supervisor Angus Bickerton and animatics supervisor Mac Wilson

The Future of Space Travel, an archival featurette exploring the film's vision of the future

TV Years, a Q&A with the original cast of the TV series

Bloopers

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Pye Parr

and an illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing by critic Neil Sinyard, articles from American Cinematographer and an excerpt from the original production notes.

It's always been a bit baffling to me while Lost in Space wasn't a bigger hit at the time and in my opinion is still far more entertaining than the more recent Netflix series of the same name. This 1998 reboot has certainly gotten eyes on it over the years thanks to home video and streaming. It took some chances with the material by modernizing it and tried something different even if it all didn't work onscreen in terms of digital effects due to the technology available. It would be just one year later that The Matrix and Star Wars Episode 1 would set a new standard for visual effects industry and this film came out on the cusp of that.

There were a lot of future plans for this version of the franchise if it would've succeeded financially including an animated series and even a live action TV show, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Despite the film's financial and critical defeats, however, it helped rekindle interest of the original series in the public eye that gave birth to new merchandise and legacy appeal for the intellectual property. Arrow again has done a great job here and I'm glad the film finally has the 4K UHD treatment it deserves.

Al Pacino and Dan Stevens star in the exorcism thriller, The Ritual (2025), which is now out Blu-ray from Decal. Based on the true story of the 1928 exorcism of Emma Schmidt, also known as Anna Ecklund, in Earling, Iowa. This is the most documented case of an exorcism in American history. The film centers on the two priests who attempt to free the young Emma Schmidt from the reins of a terrifying demon that is very vulgar, violent, and killing Emma from the inside out.

The film also stars Ashley Greene, Patricia Heaton, and Abigail Cowen and is directed by David Midell.

The fact that Al Pacino is in this movie is sure to raise a few eyebrows. While the film is not without a few cool moments, it doesn't seem like a project that a superstar like Pacino would gravitate to. That being said he does a wonderful job in the role as a devout priest who is the calmest and most rational voice and the lead Exorcist. Dan Stevens (Abigail, The Guest) is a strong actor in his own right and plays the role of a priest who has wavering faith well and does a fine job opposite of Pacino here.

The Ritual has a few startling moments such as the possessed young girl ripping Ashley Greene's ponytail from her head. I'm not sure if that happened in the real case but it certainly is a scene that will make your jaw drop. There are some other moments when she is possessed where you feel the film at its most energetic. Other moments that connect the dots don't hold as much weight as the lot of film centers on Dan Stevens' character, whose internal struggle isn't always well defined.

The Ritual is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.00:1 and an English DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless mix. The film looks fine in 1080p with no overly glaring issues even though the choice of making 90 percent of the film handheld shaky cam when its supposed to be a period piece was an odd stylistic choice. I feel like on the whole the cinematography could have been more cinematic with a lot of wider shots used to make it feel bigger much like films in the Neon on A24 catalog. Immaculate comes to mind as a recent example of how a film in this style can be done well, a very gritty cinematic and almost Italian cinematic feel as opposed to what we have here which is more flat and has a lower budget vibe.

Special Features include

The Making of The Ritual featurette

Keeping the Faith featurette

The Script featurette

Based on a True Story featurette

and The Buzzfeed Interviews

Odd casting choices aside, The Ritual isn't terrible but not too particularly memorable either.

- James Lockhart

https://letterboxd.com/jhl5films/