The Cell (2000)

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Directed by Tarsem Singh.

Starring Dylan Baker, Vincent D'Onofrio, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Jake Weber, Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn.

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In this science fiction thriller, child psychiatrist Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) has developed a technique that allows her to travel through the minds of her patients. When Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio), a multiple murderer who methodically drowns his victims and performs bizarre rituals with their bodies, falls into a coma, FBI agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn) asks Deane to enter the killer's psyche, in the hope of finding a missing girl whom Stargher has kidnapped; if she's not soon found, in all likelihood she'll die in his torture cell. However, once Deane enters the bizarre world of Stargher's mind, she finds getting out to be a very difficult matter. The Cell was the first feature from director Tarsem, who previously made award-winning commercials and music videos, including the video for R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion." The supporting cast includes Catherine Sutherland, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Dylan Baker, and Pruitt Taylor Vince. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

The Fall Trailer
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com

hasn't rated it.

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"Call me crazy (again), but I really like Tarsem’s debut feature, The Cell. If I had any complaints, though, it would be that there wasn’t enough visual stimuli. I’m sure others would have preferred a better story instead, but I have a greater appreciation for those films that are primarily meant to be looked at, and not as much followed. Favorites include Terry Giliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Julie Taymor’s Titus and Zhang Yimou’s Hero, though I could probably go on and on. It’s an interesting affection coming from me, a guy occasionally inclined to criticize Hollywood’s spectacle-over-substance model of blockbustering. But I can’t help falling for a combination of beautiful cinematography and art direction. I shouldn’t, but I’ll even admit to enjoying What Dreams May Come – with my eyes wide open and my ears plugged shut, of course. The problem, though, with filmmakers like Tarsem and the rest is that eventually their painterly visions may dry up or become repetitive ... " [More]

Re: Favorite Horror Movies...
by Phantasma-gore-ia in HORROR MOVIES 101

loved it.

"I don't know about Dr. Gor's methods, but I had an advantage insofar as the listing for my website, namely all the titles it features. I then looked it over for the ones I liked and then the ones I thought stood out in some way, were notable among the others, set some sort of standard or contributed an iconic image to horror (Phantasm's brain-draining silver spheres anyone?).I would advise simply building a list of horror films you've seen, as many as you can get together, and slimming it down to ones that had something special, something you remember it particularly for.I chose, for one, The Cell because it's a 90+ minute stunning work of art, an aesthetic marvel of light, color and design and because the world of the psychopath is truly demented. Also it chops a horse into twelve slices like a biology exhibit, which is cool too. Hellraiser and Nightmare... stand alone and the others have unique claims, like I doubt there are many zombie flicks that take suc ... " [More]

Extremely attractive movie
by Phantasma-gore-ia in Phantasma-gore-ia Blog

loved it.

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"Once again, I'm in the minority. I thought this movie was incredible, beyond the evident manifest artistic display that it is but also the twisted and eminently psychotic world of a serial killer. I suspect the shocking scene of the horse being sectioned off into a dozen pulsing, breathing pieces was responsible for putting a lot of people off, but that's tough. If it didn't put you off, you might be interested in: http://www.bloodgutsandgore.co m, a website solely concerned with such displays. The obligatory plug aside, this movie was a treat. ;) " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

lost interest.

A box-office sleeper, The Cell (2000) puts a decidedly eerie spin on the oft-repeated serial killer crime-drama with a narrative device (the killer is in an irreversible coma and must be confronted through his dreams) that allows director Tarsem Singh to add numerous visual flourishes indicative of his background in music video. While not giving as assured a performance as she did in Out of Sight (1998), star Jennifer Lopez is adequate if not totally believable as a child psychiatrist, while Vince Vaughn and Vincent D'Onofrio are convincing in their roles as an obsessed FBI agent and a psychotic murderer, respectively. Where The Cell runs into problems is with its story, which fails to properly resolve several dangling plot threads, most notably the nascent physical attraction between the Lopez and Vaughn characters, which never amounts to anything, and the hinted-at but never revealed childhood traumas possibly suffered by Vaughn. A triumph of style over substance, The Cell cribs liberally from better psychological thrillers such as The Silence of the Lambs (1991) while remaining absorbing enough on a visceral level to hint at a rosy future for Singh. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Tags: visual , Creepy , weird , surreal , serialkiller
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