By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The Spanish chiller is making its Stateside hi-def debut.
Cult Epics will release 99.9, first released in 1997, in a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack October 12. Directed by Agustí Villaronga, best known for the notorious shocker IN A GLASS CAGE, from a script he wrote with Lourdes Iglesias and Jesús Regueira, it stars María Barranco (from Pedro Almodóvar’s WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN and TIE ME UP! TIE ME DOWN!), Terele Pávez (a regular in the films of Alex de la Iglesia), Ruth Gabriel, Angel de Andrés Lòpez and Gustavo Salmerón. The music is by Javier Navarrete, composer of Guillermo del Toro’s PAN’S LABYRINTH and THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE. The synopsis: “Lara [Barranco] is the host of a ‘psychic phenomena’ radio show, whose ex-lover has been found dead in a small Spanish village. When she travels to the location, she discovers that he had been performing experiments to connect with tormented spirits, trapped between worlds. Upon arrival at the abandoned building where he conducted the experiments, she finds something she never expected…”
99.9 will be presented in a brand new 2K 1.66:1 transfer from the original 35mm negative, with DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround, LPCM 2.0 stereo and Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtracks (Spanish with optional English subtitles). Special features are:
- Interview with Agustí Villaronga (2018)
- “The Making of 99.9” (1997)
- Isolated score by Javier Navarrete
- Agustí Villaronga trailers
In addition, Cult Epics is offering a web-exclusive limited three-disc edition, also including a CD of Navarrete’s score; it’ll be available tomorrow at their website.
