A thriller that concentrates on a limited physical setting, 2018’s The Super introduces us to Phil Lodge (Patrick John Flueger), a former police officer. After he leaves the force, he takes a job as a superintendent in a New York City apartment complex.

As time passes, some tenants disappear, and these events create suspicions in Phil. He fears that a serial killer stalks the halls of the apartment building, so he attempts to deal with this menace.

Not that I suspect many will care what happens. Heavy-handed and trite, Super provides a flawed attempt at a thriller.

Take the movie’s opening kill, for instance. In a better-executed film, we’d get a quick murder scene that exists to set up the villain and circumstances.

In this case, we get a segment that shows the setting and danger, but the “quick” part doesn’t come to pass. Instead, Super takes forever to execute its initial murder, and the scene fails to muster scares or drama. It just feels like it rambles forever in desperate search of tension that doesn’t materialize.

That goes for the rest of Super, as it comes with tons of failed attempts to frighten the viewer. Indeed, the movie barely attempts anything other than scares, an overdone orientation that creates one of its many problems.

If everything that movie does skews toward “terror”, than nothing terrifies. A story like this needs some balance, but the tale so infrequently allows for anything other than darkness that it fails to achieve the necessary ups and downs.

Heck, even harrowing tales like Se7en and Silence of the Lambs come with occasional laughs!

Actually, Super does prompt some chuckles, but not intentionally. Instead, its own absurdity creates amusement, as the ridiculously overwrought score and insanely obvious red herring character add unplanned mirth to the proceedings.

Despite the filmmakers’ desperate attempts to push us toward one particular suspect, the actual killer seems obvious – well, obvious if you’ve seen this sort of cheap fakeout, that is. Perhaps younger movie-watchers will fall for the cheesy machinations, but it takes little to see through the ruse.

All of this adds up to a pretty poor thriller. A better film could’ve made something from this one’s bones, but the end result becomes predictable and inane.

Footnote: a short teaser pops up during the end credits.

The Super appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The image looked pretty positive.

Sharpness seemed good. Only a little softness appeared in wider shots, so the movie usually appeared tight and concise.

Jagged edges and shimmering didn’t cause distractions, and edge enhancement seemed to be absent. Source flaws also failed to pop up in this clean transfer.

The palette emphasized teal and also threw out the usual dollops of orange. As tedious as these hues became, the colors seemed accurately reproduced within the stylistic choices.

Blacks came across as dark and dense, while shadows were well-depicted and smooth. No obvious concerns marred this solid transfer.

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Super worked fairly well, and various action elements offered the most active use of the spectrum. These scenes didn’t emerge on a frequent basis, but when they appeared, they utilized the soundscape in an engrossing manner, and music made active use of the different channels.

Audio quality pleased. Speech was concise and natural, without edginess or other issues.

Music showed good range and vivacity, while effects worked nicely. Those elements came across as accurate and full, with solid low-end response and positive definition. This left us with a “B” soundtrack.

A featurette called He Has Your Keys runs 20 minutes, 27 seconds and includes comments from producers Dick Wolf, Patrick Rizotti, Brett Forbes and Tom Thayer, screenwriter John J. McLaughlin, director Stephan Rick, SFX makeup department head Robert Kurtzman and actors Patrick John Flueger, Yul Vazquez, Mattea Marie Conforti, Taylor Richardson and Louisa Krause.

“Keys” looks at the film’s origins and development, story/characters, cast and performances, Rick’s impact on the production, sets and locations, cinematography and makeup effects. “Keys” lacks great depth but still gives us a decent overview of the film’s creation.

The disc opens with ads for I Still See You, Lizzie, and Mara. No trailer for Super appears here.

A heavy-handed and trite stab at a thriller, The Super lacks any positives. It works overtime to scare the viewer but fails miserably. The Blu-ray offers positive picture and audio but it skimps on supplements. I find little to recommend here.