Cell (film)
Cell | |
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Directed by | Tod Williams |
Screenplay by |
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Based on | Cell by Stephen King |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Michael Simmonds |
Edited by | Jacob Craycroft |
Music by | Marcelo Zarvos |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Saban Films |
Release date |
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Running time | 98 minutes[2] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Box office | $1 million[3] |
Cell is a 2016 American science fiction horror film based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Stephen King. The film is directed by Tod Williams, produced by John Cusack, with a screenplay by King and Adam Alleca. The film stars John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, and Isabelle Fuhrman. Cell is the second film adaptation of a King story to co-star Cusack and Jackson, after the 2007 film 1408.
The film was released on June 10, 2016 to video on demand, prior to a limited theatrical release scheduled for July 8, 2016.[4] The story follows a New England artist struggling to reunite with his young son after a mysterious signal broadcast over the global cell phone network turns the majority of his fellow humans into mindless vicious animals.
Cell received negative reviews from critics upon its release for being poorly crafted and lacking suspense.
Plot
Clay Riddell is a disillusioned artist, who a year earlier abandoned his wife Sharon and son Johnny in order to fulfill his dream of publishing a
Near the tunnel's exit, their companion is slaughtered by an infected man, later dubbed a "phoner". Clay leads Tom to his apartment. That night, they are joined by Alice Maxwell, a teenage neighbor who killed her mother in self-defense. All three decide to escape Boston. Heading north through New England to find Sharon and Johnny, the three acquire weapons from a house and are chased by phoners to a nearby river. They hide from the infected, who start emitting signals from their mouths before walking off as a group.
After sundown, the three arrive at a private school and meet two survivors: headmaster Charles Ardai and student Jordan. Charles postulates that the phoners have developed a
The remaining group, now including Jordan, take shelter at an abandoned drive-in theater. After going to sleep, they all dream of a raggedy-looking man in a red hoodie, a character from Clay's book. Later, they encounter survivors in a roadside bar. There, they learn about Kashwak, a state park in Maine where there is said to be no cell service. After agreeing to travel there, they spend the night in the bar. Sally, one of the survivors, is awoken and infected by a group outside. She can now transmit the pulse through her mouth. The group attacks Tom and Jordan. After saving Tom from a phoner, Alice is bludgeoned in the head by Sally, whom Tom kills. The group takes Alice outside, where she succumbs to her head wound.
Later, the group encounter a sleepless Ray Huizenga and his friend Denise, who say that Kashwak is a trap set by the Raggedy Man. Ray becomes increasingly agitated, muttering that the Raggedy Man is planting thoughts in his head. He gives Clay his phone and tells him to call the number on it when they reach the end of the road. Ray then kills himself with a bomb. In Ray's truck, the group discovers a huge quantity of C-4 explosives. When they make it to Sharon's house, Clay learns that Johnny has headed for Kashwak and Sharon has turned into a phoner. After killing her, Clay drives alone to Kashwak in Ray’s truck, intent on locating Johnny, while the others continue north towards Canada, leaving marks as a trail for Clay.
At Kashwak, Clay finds thousands of phoners walking in a circle around a
Cast
- John Cusack as Clayton "Clay" Riddell
- Samuel L. Jackson as Thomas "Tom" McCourt
- Isabelle Fuhrman as Alice Maxwell
- Clark Sarullo as Sharon Riddell
- Ethan Andrew Casto as Johnny Riddell
- Owen Teague as Jordan
- Stacy Keach as Charles Ardai
- Joshua Mikel as Raggedy Man
- Anthony Reynolds as Ray Huizenga
- Erin Elizabeth Burns as Denise
- Jeffrey Hallman as Hog Tied Man
- Mark Ashworth as Bartender
- Wilbur Fitzgerald as Geoff
- Catherine Dyer as Sally
- E. Roger Mitchell as Roscoe
- Alex ter Avest as Chloe
- Gaby Layner as Maddy
- Rey Hernandez as Rick
- Frederick C. Johnson Jr as Rick's Partner
- Michael Beasley as Construction Worker
- Tom Key as Older Man
- Angela Davis as Blood Stained Woman
- Griffin Freeman as Mike Mattick
- Lloyd Kaufman as Bystander
Production
Development
The film is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by Stephen King. Dimension Films announced in March 2006 that Eli Roth would direct the project after finishing Hostel: Part II.[5] Roth exited the project in 2009, saying:
There was just sort of a difference in opinion on how to make the film and what the story should be, and there's a different direction the studio wants to go with it. It was very friendly because it's the Weinsteins (Bob Weinstein and Harvey Weinstein), they made Inglourious Basterds and we're all friends. I said, 'I'm not really interested in doing the film this way. You guys go ahead and I'm going to make my own films.' I've also learned that I really am only interested in directing original stories that I write, that's another thing I learned through that whole process.[6]
Following Roth's departure, Screen Rant noted that the film "faded into the background".[7] However, in October 2012, John Cusack was announced as the first actor to join the film, followed by the selection of Tod Williams as director in early 2013.[8][7] In November 2013, Samuel L. Jackson was cast as Tom McCourt.[9] Isabelle Fuhrman was announced as Alice on February 5, 2014, and Stacy Keach was cast in an unnamed role of a headmaster the following day.[10][11] The film was shot over 25 days in January 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia.[12]
Release
In February 2015, the producers of the film announced that Clarius Entertainment had acquired distribution rights.
Reception
Cell was panned by most critics.[17] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 11% based on 57 reviews and an average score of 3.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Shoddily crafted and devoid of suspense, Cell squanders a capable cast and Stephen King's once-prescient source material on a bland rehash of zombie cliches."[18] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 38 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[19]
Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times criticized the film's "bare-bones screenplay" for being "wholly unable to deliver even a smidgen of nuance or depth", and called Cusack's performance "possibly the most detached" of his career.[20] Owen Gleiberman of Variety referred to the outbreak scene in the airport as the "only unsettling scene" in the film, and wrote that "the film is about as close as you could get to a generic low-budget undead thriller".[21] Steve Greene of IndieWire gave the film a grade of "C−", calling it "a character study with a dearth of character", and concluding that the film has "no greater message [...] except that using a Bluetooth headset to call someone from an airport bathroom stall should be punishable by zombification".[22]
Odie Henderson of
References
- ^ CraveOnline Media. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ "CELL (15)". British Board of Film Classification. November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 17, 2015.
- ^ "Cell (2016)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services. Retrieved October 13, 2016.
- ^ Miska, Brad (April 26, 2016). "The 'CELL' Trailer Rings in a Zombie-esque Apocalypse!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
- ^ Fleming, Michael (March 7, 2006). "Dimension hits speed dial". Variety. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
- ^ Douglas, Edward. "Eli Roth Not Involved with Hostel III". ShockTillYouDrop. Archived from the original on July 11, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
- ^ a b Vieira, Anthony (May 15, 2013). "Stephen King 'Zombie' Film 'Cell' To Be Directed by 'Paranormal Activity 2' Helmer". Screen Rant. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
- ^ Kay, Jeremy (October 31, 2012). "John Cusack to star in Cargo's Stephen King adaptation Cell". Screen Daily. Screen International. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ^ McClintock, Pamela (November 4, 2013). "AFM: Samuel L. Jackson Joins Cast of 'Cell'". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- Penske Business Media. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- Penske Business Media. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
- ^ Fletcher, Rosie (February 18, 2016). "Cell is set to give a signal boost to a new kind of zombie movie". GamesRadar+. Future Publishing. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
- Penske Business Media. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
- ^ "Stephen King's Cell No Longer Has US Distribution". Box Office Flops. December 10, 2015. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
- ^ "Cell (2016)". Film Ratings. Classification & Ratings Administration. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
- ^ Unsworth, Martin (January 22, 2016). "PANDEMIC Added to Film4 FrightFest Glasgow". Starburst. Archived from the original on April 24, 2016. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
- Penske Business Media. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
- ^ "Cell (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
- CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
- ^ Catsoulis, Jeannette (July 7, 2016). "Review: 'Cell' Offers Zombified Victims and an Unfocused Narrative". The New York Times. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
- Penske Business Media. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
- ^ Greene, Steve (July 6, 2016). "'Cell' Review: Stephen King Novel Becomes a Phony Zombie Story". IndieWire. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
- ^ Henderson, Odie (July 8, 2016). "Cell movie review & film summary (2016)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
- ^ Cooper, Patrick (June 13, 2016). "Stephen King's 'Cell' Is Another Forgettable Adaptation". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
- Consequence of Sound. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
- ^ Grimm, Bob (June 14, 2014). "'Cell' Wastes Stephen King's Plot While Illustrating the Decline of John Cusack's Career". Coachella Valley Independent. Retrieved June 15, 2016.
External links
- Cell at IMDb
- Cell at Box Office Mojo
- Cell at Rotten Tomatoes
- Cell at Metacritic
- Cell at AllMovie (rating 1.5/5)