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Now Streaming on Amazon Prime, Tarsem Singh’s Visionary ‘The Cell’ is Begging for Rediscovery

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You wouldn’t necessarily expect to revisit a Jennifer Lopez horror movie from the year 2000 and discover that it’s pretty great, but here we are. The Cell is pretty great, you guys.

When it was released back in August 2000, Tarsem Singh‘s The Cell wasn’t exactly a big time hit with critics, but it did have one unlikely ally in its corner: Roger Ebert. Unlikely, I note, because Ebert was notoriously unkind to horror films throughout his career, making no secret of the fact that he wasn’t the genre’s biggest champion. But Ebert took to The Cell, going so far as to label it “one of the best films of the year.”

The late Roger Ebert wrote in his August 2000 review, “We live in a time when Hollywood shyly ejects weekly remakes of dependable plots, terrified to include anything that might confuse the dullest audience member. Into this wilderness comes a movie like The Cell, which is challenging, wildly ambitious and technically superb.”

Indeed The Cell is all of these things, a visually sumptuous horror movie that unquestionably served as an influence on everything from Bryan Fuller’s “Hannibal” to Ryan Murphy’s “American Horror Story.” In the film, Jennifer Lopez plays a sort of new age Clarice Starling as Catherine Deane, a social worker who is quite literally able to enter the minds of comatose persons thanks to an experimental technology that links brains and shares feeds. Deane’s next patient? Twisted serial killer Carl Stargher (a brilliantly unnerving Vincent D’Onofrio), whose sleeping mind is a memory palace filled with nightmarish delights. The goal? To find his next victim, a young woman who will soon drown inside of Stargher’s automated torture device.

The most common criticism of The Cell, both when it was released and still 18 years later, is that it’s a case of style over substance, and one thing about the film is for certain: it’s oozing with style, so much so that it edges on the precipice of being a full-on art film when it expands beyond its crime thriller trappings. The film’s set-up suggests a familiar approach, with the FBI tracking down a demented killer, but The Cell really comes alive whenever it plunges headfirst into that killer’s mind. At its boldest points, and its comfortable being bold most of its runtime, The Cell is way more Nightmare on Elm Street than it is Silence of the Lambs, with breathtaking set design and costuming ensuring that the style *is* the substance.

The Cell is loaded with no shortage of unforgettable nightmare imagery, much of it inspired by famous works of art, with various different versions of Carl Stargher lurking around every corner of that nightmarescape as a sort of Freddy Krueger for a new generation. At some points, Stargher appears to Catherine as an frightened child, while other forms represent an idealized version of himself that it is at times regal and at others downright demonic. D’Onofrio absolutely owns the role no matter which version of the character he’s tasked with playing, turning Stargher into one of the strongest horror villains of that time.

And make no mistake, though the style of The Cell is the primary calling card that elevates it to being a standout horror film of the early 2000s, it’s not as bereft of substance as many would lead you to believe. Underneath all the vividly alluring nightmare fuel and dream logic lies a story of an abused young boy turned into a monster by his own father, and the woman who’s desperately trying to contact the goodness within him in an attempt to save the life of his next victim. By the time Catherine “reverses the feed” and pulls Carl into an imaginary world of her own creation, bravely butchering one of his demonic forms like a total badass while taking on an angelic form herself to drown the young version of Carl and free him from his own mind, it’s clear that Tarsem Singh wasn’t solely interested in showing you pretty pictures. Monsters aren’t born but created, and The Cell‘s final act slays its beast in touching fashion.

Sure, The Cell would be little more than an “FBI hunts serial killer” tale if stripped of its particular brand of style, but the fact remains that Tarsem Singh’s visionary flourishes are there and on full display, taking that procedural familiarity to a whole new level by merging it with a different sort of movie entirely. By Singh’s own description, The Cell is horror opera; it’s big, bold and impossible to ignore, perhaps even moreso in 2018 than when it came out.

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

Editorials

5 Deep Cut Horror Movies to Seek Out in April 2024

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horror
Pictured: 'The Uncanny'

New month, new horror recommendations from Deep Cuts Rising. This installment features selections reflecting the month of April 2024.

Regardless of how they came to be here, or what they’re about, these past movies can generally be considered overlooked, forgotten or unknown.

This month’s offerings include telepathic plants, ecological horrors, and a lot of killer cats.


The Uncanny (1977)

horror

Pictured: The Uncanny (1977)

Directed by Denis Héroux.

The Uncanny is a two-for kind of deal: it works for both National Pet Day (April 11) and Tell a Story Day (April 27). Here we have Peter Cushing‘s character talking at length about the evils of cats, with his three examples fleshing out this singular anthology. And while this film is often mistaken for an Amicus production, it was, in fact, made by The Rank Organisation. However, Amicus co-founder Milton Subotsky was also a co-producer.

The Uncanny has a tendency to be one-note in its execution and story styles; vengeful felines come up more than once in the film. Even so, these macabre, cat-centric segments told in EC Comics fashion are more entertaining than not.

Watch The Uncanny at streaming sites such as SCREAMBOX.


The Kirlian Witness (1979)

horror

Pictured: The Kirlian Witness (1979)

Directed by Jonathan Sarno.

The Kirlian Witness (also known as The Plants are Watching) fits the bill when looking for something to watch on International Plant Appreciation Day (April 13). Similar to Eyes of Laura Mars, this film’s story is built on pseudoscience. More specifically, Kirlian photography. Nancy Snyder‘s character Rilla hopes to use this technique — revealing the energy field, or aura, of people and other animate things — to solve her sister’s murder. However, the only witness to the sister’s death, apart from the mysterious killer, is a plant. Rilla’s bizarre investigation eventually leads her to a startling discovery.

Jonathan Sarno’s film is a certified slow-burn, but it’s also intriguing and good-looking. This oddball of crime-solving horror is, at the very least, unique.

The Kirlian Witness is available for rental/purchase (under its alias) at digital retailers like Apple TV.


Scream for Help (1984)

horror

Pictured: Scream for Help (1984)

Directed by Michael Winner.

For Scream Day this year (April 24), why not visit Scream for Help? In this teenage thriller filtered through Death Wish, a Nancy Drew type suspects her stepfather is up to no good. And when her suspicions are proven right, she and her mother have to fight for their lives.

Scream for Help had the makings of a standard ’80s teen-slasher, but this turned out to be more like an “afterschool special meets home invasion” flick. And a hilarious one at that. It was likely not Michael Winner’s intention for this film to be so laugh-a-minute — star Lolita Lorre, bless her heart, has the funniest deliveries — however, trying to keep a straight face during his cinematic hot mess is impossible. Tom Holland‘s script was straight up murdered. Still and all, this is an entertaining disasterpiece that would have been an entirely different film had the original director, Richard Franklin, stayed on (rather than going off to direct Link).

The HD restoration of Scream for Help is available on Blu-ray from Scream Factory, but the digital version is standard-def.


Penumbra (2012)

Pictured: Penumbra (2012)

Directed by Ramiro García Bogliano & Adrián García Bogliano.

While it’s advised not to stare at the sun during the solar eclipse on April 8, fans of satirical horror are encouraged to give Penumbra, an Argentinian-Mexican film featuring an imminent solar eclipse, a watch. The unsubtle artwork suggests a straightforward survival story, however, the actual product is quite different and twisty. Cristina Brondo plays a prickly businesswoman who may have made her last sale; her new client has ulterior motives.

Surely some viewers will be put off by the protagonist of Penumbra, whose behavior in anticipation of the ominous eclipse is problematic. Yet, strangely enough, her being an imperfect victim adds something to the film, whereas a more pristine character would have made the whole experience less gripping.

Penumbra is currently available on AMC+.


Strange Nature (2018)

Pictured: Strange Nature (2018)

Directed by James Ojala.

For a less known eco-horror film to watch this Earth Day (April 22), Strange Nature tells its story with both urgency and force. Here, the late Lisa Sheridan (of FreakyLinks) played a struggling single mother looking into a local anomaly: mutated frogs. Soon enough, the cause of this abnormality extends beyond the water and creates other threats for the town’s human residents.

This truly indie production has its obvious limitations, yet the story — one based on a real life incident in Minnesota — and characters compensate for any visual flaws. The practical effects for the mutant beast are also admirable, given the meager resources available.

Strange Nature is currently streaming on Tubi.


No genre is as prolific as horror, so it’s understandable that movies fall through the cracks all the time. That is where this recurring column, Deep Cuts Rising, comes in. Each installment of this series will spotlight several unsung or obscure movies from the past — some from way back when, and others from not so long ago — that could use more attention.

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