C.B. Strike: Lethal White: Season Two (2020/HBO/Warner Archive DVD)/Halloween Kills 4K (2021/Universal 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray + Blu-ray w/DVD Sets)/99.9 (1997/Cult Epics Blu-ray w/DVD)/Tailgate (1999/Film Movement DVD)

4K Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B-/B B & C/B/B- Sound: B-/B+ B C/B/B- Extras: D/C+/C+/D Main Programs: C/C+/C-/B

Here are some thrillers, old, new and revived....

C.B. Strike: Lethal White: Season Two (2020) is based on a novels by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling). Originally broadcast on the BBC, HBO brings the series stateside for this release.

Tom Burke (The Musketeers) stars as private detective Cormoran Strike, who is a former war veteran now working out of a cramped London who works with his assistant, Robin Ellacott, to solve the cases that baffle even the Police themselves.

Two episodes, The Silkworm: Parts one and two, are 240 minutes in running time are presented here on standard definition DVD with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and a lossy 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio mix. It has a very cinematic look and feel and the money is on the screen with this series.

No extras.

C. B. Strike is well made, but I think you really need to see the series from the beginning to really put together all of the pieces. The pacing is a bit slow and the feeling is that of a British police procedural.

David Gordon Green's Halloween Kills 4K (2021) is the third installment (unless you want to cut out a key revelation in the original Halloween II, but keep Dana Carvey's cameo) of the third version of the battle between the seemingly unkillable 'The Shape' and young people who must die. Unlike the original films where Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie is related to him and the two Rob Zombie films where all is a fiasco, this version has Laurie NOT a relative of the killer and Curtis is here, though not as often as she should be.

Laurie is in the hospital (again!) after her harrowing reunion encounter with her nemesis, so her daughter and grand-daughter (Judy Greer, Andi Matichak) have to deal with him as many local Haddonfield police (in 1978 and 2021) keep underestimating what it will take to take him out, if they even can. We get two cuts of the film (105 and 109 minutes, respectively as the box also touts an 'Alternate Ending' than was moot to me) seem longer than their running time as this drags out for all kinds of reasons. Between the music score being a little off in the worst way, the suspense sequences not really working or being everything we've seen before (a 'boo movie' that does not work) and a very mixed script, this 'kills' more time unnecessarily than it should and is a let down after the last film did a decent job of revival.

Will Patton, Thomas Mann and Anthony Michael Hall are among the supporting cast who do try to get this to work and are among those who keep the film going when other things keep falling through. Green is a good director and I am glad to see him having commercial success, but in real life, he is capable of delivering much stronger, more realistic material and I hope he gets back to those kind fo films, even if he helms any more of these sequels.

The 2160p HECV/H.265, 2.35 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image passes the regular, but still decent 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer with better colors, better Video Black, better range in the darkness and more depth and a little more detail overall. The attempts to look like the original film are not always bad, but not unflawed either. The 4K and Blu-ray versions all offer lossless Dolby Atmos 11.1 (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) sound fine and have some good sonic moments, but it has moments of quiet and softer sound by necessity to try and develop suspense, so expect that too.

The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image and lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 sound are on the weak side and the disc is only here for convenience at best.

Extras include Digital Code for both versions, while the discs add (per the press release) a GAG REEL,

• DELETED/EXTENDED SCENES

• HADDONFIELD'S OPEN WOUNDS: Those who die at the hands of Michael Myers are not his only victims. We look at some of the returning characters, and why their past traumatic encounters with The Shape made them natural candidates to try and defend Haddonfield against him.

• THE KILL TEAM: It takes a big team to create a film the scale of HALLOWEEN KILLS, especially when part of the task is raising the bar for Michael's gruesome kills. We hear the people behind the mayhem discuss how they continue to push the franchise to new heights.

• STRODE FAMILY VALUES: Filmmakers and cast discuss the three generations of Strode women that have been terrorized by The Shape, and the roles Laurie, Karen and Allyson play in trying to vanquish his evil.

• 1978 TRANSFORMATIONS: Shooting new footage that matches the feel of the iconic 1978 footage is no easy task, and even takes a little bit of luck. We reveal some of the secrets of how filmmakers achieved these stunning sequences.

• THE POWER OF FEAR: The impact of Michael Myers' pure evil extends far beyond his victims. We examine how fear of The Shape changed the psychology of the people of Haddonfield.

• KILL COUNT

• and a FEATURE COMMENTARY with Director/co-writer David Gordon Green and stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Judy Greer.

Agusti Villaronga's 99.9 (1997) is a bizarre Spanish thriller that follows a psychic talk show host who learns that her boyfriend was killed in a Spanish Village. As she attempts to piece together the mystery, she finds out he was conducting experiments dealing in toying with supernatural energy from tortured souls. The film is well made but a bit hard to follow at times and is a bit of torture to watch. The filmmaking is interesting, but the constant shift between a grainy blue VHS-like look and a cleaner 35mm cinematic look is a bit jarring and tiresome.

The film stars Maria Barranco, Terele Pavez, Ruth Gabriel, Angel de Andres Lopez, and Gustavo Salmeron.

99.9 is presented in 1080p on Blu-ray disc with an MPEG-4 AVC codec, a widescreen original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and Spanish audio mix in lossless LPCM 2.0, lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1, and lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 with English subtitles. There are no English dubbed audio tracks on either the Blu-ray or the also included DVD of the film. This is a 2K transfer from the original 35mm camera negative and certainly the best looking presentation on disc this side of the country. The image looks fine but the film has a kind of dark and unusual look, with some scenes more vivid and others dark and grainy for the purpose of the narrative.

Special Features:

The Making of 99.9 featurette (1997)

Isolated score by Javier Navarette

and Agusti Villaronga Trailers (Moon Child + In a Glass Cage)

Finally, Tailgate (1999) also known as Bumperkleef is a highway thriller from the Netherlands that is an interestingly and well shot film that sticks its audience in a car from a road raging family man who who picks the wrong guy to hash out his road rage with. With his wife and two little girls in the car, the film uses efficient editing and cinematography to craft a highway cat and mouse thriller that feels a bit inspired by Spielberg's classic Duel (1971, reviewed elsewhere on this site) in some moments and a slasher formula in others, with the killer attacking his victims with chemicals as their pursuit goes beyond the highway.

The film is directed by Lodewijk Crijns and stars Willem de Wolf, Anniek Pheifer, and Jeroen Spitzenberger.

Tailgate is presented in standard definition on DVD with a 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio in English dubbed 5.1 Dolby Digital mix and an original Dutch language 5.1 mix with English subs as well. Compression issues are evident as is the norm the format, but looks and sounds good all things considered for the DVD format.

No extras.

Tailgate is surprisingly interesting and pretty original, even if some of its inspirations are a bit clear.

- Nicholas Sheffo (Halloween 4K) and James Lockhart

https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/