Rock, Paper, Death! Blu Ray Review (Glass House Distribution)

Rock, Paper, Death! is a 2025 suspense film written, produced, shot, edited, sound, and directed by Akihiro Asao in his directorial debut. A desperate man named Brian Cooper (played by: Derrick Dover from Hero’s Island, American Crime Story, Veep, Live by Night, and House of Lies) wants some answers about a mysterious tragedy. He’s willing to help Detective Percival Cavendish (played by: Jim O’Connor from Mystic Pizza, Undercover Brother, Sweet Home Alabama, and The Secret Life of…) for his undercover bust, he decides to enter a gruesome rock-paper-scissors game hosted by the charismatic Jean-K Paul (played by: Bob Werley from Shin Godzilla, Shutter, Gunshi Kanbee, MAGI Tensho Keno Shonen Shisetsu, and The Last Recipe: Memory of Giraffe’s Tongue) to avenge his fiancee Sophia in a high stakes fatal showdown. Can he find out what really happened? or Will this game be his death???? Rock, Paper, Death! is a real mystery when it comes to actual information on the underground project. There’s almost nothing online about it and even it’s IMDB page is incomplete. The concept alone grabbed my attention right away. Instead of the typical fighting tournament, they play this childhood game in a unknown location. Akihiro Asao is very ambitious for his first time behind the camera. He basically did damn near every job on this low budget production. I am really impressed that he was able to pull off what he did with so little here. Rock, Paper, Death! is honestly a very smart set up because it didn’t require much cash, location, crew, and cast to execute. The script starts off with around 19 minutes of character development then it goes into all of the mayhem. Derrick Dover is solid as Brian Cooper. He has potential to be an action stand out in the future. Brian gets into a fight with his fiance. He just assumes that she just left him but he’s later informed by the police that she was found dead. He’s told about this private event that pits desperate people against each other in a deadly game of paper, rock, scissors. He volunteers to play the game to catch who’s behind it. Bob Werley as Jean-K Paul is the entertaining mouthpiece that leads this tension filled show. He’s great as the wisecracking hype man. He knows how to push the competition’s buttons to make everything more interesting. Antonio Cortez (played by: Evan De Sousa from Shefu Wa Meitantei and Woman in the Chair) is the contestant that stands out the most besides Brian. He’s a world famous gambling junkie and he thrives on thrills. The cocky risk taker doesn’t really get along with the rest of the people involved in this. There’s 5 other volunteers in this tournament which includes Amy, Nicholas, Simone, GanGoe, & Jacob, they all explain why they are there and what their motivation is. The rest of the cast includes Jim O’Connor, Ryu Sakai, Shiro, Shunta Fujii, Kôji Matoba (Freeway Speedway), Alisa Uehara (Tokyo Vice), Mekdachi Khalil (Bullet Ballet), Jasmine Rose (Doctor X), Dante Carter (Holy Hustle), Lachlan Scott (State of Mind), Miki Hanta (The Blacklist), Mandy Gerbode (First Mission), Arnaud Le Gall (Rohan at the Louvre), and Rohan Jeetendra Khemlani (Mai Daiarî). Most of these roles are very small cameos. There’s only a few additional people really featured in this. The acting goes anywhere from good to over the top kinda like a live action cartoon. Rock, Paper, Death! is full of surprises, there’s a few twists to it. It’s not afraid to show gore but all of the kills are exactly the same. Each contestant has a bomb strapped to them so they explode right away when they lose. It looks pretty damn good overall for not having many locations and keeping everything simple. It’s mainly at the one spot that’s basically an abandoned warehouse but it works. It’s a nice mix of suspense, dark comedy, drama, and horror. They mention that it’s the 7th one that they done for this death game so it opens up the possibility of either a prequel or a sequel later on. I think it had too much banter in between all of the rounds that slowed it down a little. It still wasn’t dull at all, it stayed extremely fun and kept the attention on the screen. I didn’t know what to expect going into it but it was better than I thought it would be. The lack of coverage or promotion for it really helped it become more of a mystery and curiosity. I am literally only the 3rd review for it at the moment anywhere in the world and technically, the only full length one written so far because the others were very short. Hopefully, this home video release gives it more of a life because it barely even exists at this point which is rare for a full length independent movie these days. It’s currently streaming on Tubi and Plex at the moment but I haven’t seen anyone bring it up besides myself for some reason. It’s worth checking out, RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentation from Glass House Distribution! This 1080p (1.78:1) unrated and uncensored transfer makes it’s bloody debut on home video. It has slick cinematography, gritty production design, explosive special fx, and it’s main isolated location where most of it takes place. It has a English: Dolby Digital 5.1 track on the disc. This adrenaline fueled atmosphere is a wave of violent lunacy especially towards the end. It’s loaded with crazy scenarios and these sadistic games that just add to the overall sound of Rock, Paper, Death! All of the dialogue is crystal clear, the chaotic tension is elevated, and the music has a intense boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles. It has the “Trailer” for Rock, Paper, Death! It has almost 13 minutes of “Glashouse Trailers” for a variety of their upcoming releases. This is a M.O.D (BD-R) home video release. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!