The Cell – Arrow

Directed by: Tarsem Singh
Written by: Mark Protosevich
Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Vincent, D’Onofrio, Vince Vaughn, Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Year: 2000
Country: US, Germany
Running time: 107mins
BBFC Classification: 18

Unfairly derided upon release and criminally underrated (and certainly a lot better than you remember!), The Cell is a fantastic mix of late nineties/early noughties fixation with the serial killer thriller and artist/music video director Tarsem Singh’s unique visual style. Dark, visually stimulating, and certainly made for adults, Arrow’s fantastic new Blu-Ray/4K upgrade presents the flick (and its glorious cinematography) in all its uncut eye sizzling glory.

Lopez plays expert psychotherapist, Catherine Deane, who is part of a new experimental technology that allows her to journey into the minds of those lost to the confines of a coma to help them find a way pack. When a notorious serial killer (D’Onofrio) is captured by a determined FBI agent (Vaughn) and his team, he enlists the help of Catherine (and the mind entering technology) to enter the mind of the recently comatose killer to find the location of his newly kidnapped victim. Said victim is trapped in a slowly filling with water tank (the cell!) in an unknown location and the only way to find her before she drowns is for Catherine to navigate the dangerous mind of the killer to extract the location. The clock ticks as the cell fills with water and Catherine’s sanity is put on the line as she does mental battle with a horrific killer.

An amalgamation of police procedural and surreal serial killer fantasy, The Cell takes its high concept and runs with it allowing known visualist Tarsem Singh to go wild with a big budget. The film begins slow burn and steady as the FBI close in on the notorious killer, Singh and his team unleashing some startling scenes of D’Onofrio’s villain perpetrating some (still to this day) disturbing acts on his victims. Once caught the film shifts gears into a slight sci-fi slant as the heroes enter the mind of the killer and have to do battle with his nightmarish fantasies as they attempt to unlock the location of the cell where he traps his victims. Obviously, Singh is very comfortable in the surrealist mind of the killer, orchestrating fantastic flights of unsettling fantasy that dazzle the eye but disturb the mind. Via a mixture of opulent sets, costumes, CGI, and Howard Shore’s fantastically bombastic/operatic score, Singh brings the mind of a vicious surreal killer to visually striking life.

While the momentum can’t always quite be maintained and the film buckles occasionally under its own weighty concept of trying to combine a standard thriller with a fantastical film, The Cell succeeds thanks to its commitment to its own unique concept and the fact the grounded scenes (i.e. the ones set in the mundane real world ) are just as well shot, mounted, and tense filled as those in the serial killer’s mindscape. Vaughn is great here, providing a determined emotional anchor to all the flights of fancy making one hope his desperation laced FBI agent succeeds in finding the poor women who is trapped in the cell.

While perhaps a (stylistically) product of its time (the film is almost 25 years old!), The Cell still holds up thanks to its out-there concept, Singh’s assured visual hand (here making his feature film debut), and the palpable tension that sells the race-against time thriller aspect. While the overly critical may pick it apart and it will probably always be in the shadow of Singh’s more critically favoured/fanboy loved The Fall, The Cell (at least to the lowly reviewer) is still his best film and a commendable meeting of style, ambition, and lofty creativity that overcomes any narrative shortcomings to be a wholly unique experience.

Arrow will release The Cell on Limited Edition Blu-ray January 20th, 2025.

SPECIAL FEATURES

2-DISC 4K ULTRA HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

DISC 1 – FEATURE & EXTRAS (4K ULTRA HD)

• 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray™ (2160p) presentation of both the Theatrical and Director’s cuts of the film in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) – film looks incredible thanks in part to Arrow’s new clean-up/scale up and the DP’s fantastic widescreen photography, present here in both the Theatrical and Director’s Cuts – the DC being the one to go with as it includes all the darker/edgier stuff that was originally cut out/down for US audiences.
  • Brand new audio commentary with film scholars Josh Nelson & Alexandra Heller-Nicholas – great new commentary recorded for this new release featuring two critics who actually love the film. It’s a refreshing listen, two critics singing a films’ praises, while diving deep into it influences, how it was part of and stood out from a cycle of similar themed serial killer films of the time, and how it was unfairly dismissed at the time. While it may get a little heavy in the critical analysation there’s no doubting the respect the two have for the film and it’s a great listen: hearing a film championed for its style and risks that was unfairly dismissed at the time of release.
  • Brand new audio commentary with screenwriter Mark Protosevich & film critic Kay Lynch – excellent commentary with screenwriter Protosevich and critic Lynch, the two very complimentary of the film. Giving insightful and respectful insight into the film and its themes, it’s refreshing to hear two knowledgeable experts talk calmy and respectfully about the film. Protosevich, in particular, is complimentary about the film (despite what you might read on IMDB!!) and how the film is a successful amalgamation of his script and Tarsem Singh’s singular vision. Just a great commentary where the subjects talk enthusiastically about the film.
  • Archive audio commentary with director Tarsem Singh
  • Archive audio commentary with director of photography Paul Laufer, production designer Tom Foden, makeup supervisor Michèle Burke, costume designer April Napier, visual effects supervisor Kevin Tod Haug, and composer Howard Shore
  • Projection of the Mind’s Eye, a new feature-length interview with director Tarsem Singh – fantastic feature length interview with the very enthusiastic, excitable, and full of anecdotes, Tarsem Singh who talks through almost every aspect of making the film, working with the cast, and how all the incredible visuals came to be. He’s a wealth of insight and excitable energy into the film’s making covering the high and lows of production, working with the cast (D’Onofrio unsurprisingly up for anything), and the give and take he had to navigate with the producers to make sure the more extreme elements of the story where included (including the infamous suspended in air self-pleasuring scene!). Singh practically crackles with infectious creative energy not afraid to highlight the film, and his own, shortcomings but is overall enthusiastic about his film giving almost unlimited insight in every aspect that went into making it. Fantastic stuff.
  • Between Two Worlds, a new in-depth interview with director of photography Paul Laufer – much like Tarsem Singh, Laufer (who was a frequent collaborator with Singh before The Cell), give fascinating and incredibly detailed insight into the shooting of the film. More renowned as a commercial and music video cinematographer, The Cell was one of Laufer’s only big budget/mainstream films as a DP. Covering everything from his early career to working with Singh, to the complexities of shooting The Cell, Laufer shares passionate and knowledgeable insight into crafting the amazing look of the film. While it gets a little technical orientated, this is still an interesting delve into the shooting of a complex film from the man who shot i, and who is incredibly passionate about his work and the film in general. Great stuff. 

DISC 2 – ALTERNATE VERSION & EXTRAS (BLU-RAY)

• Previously unseen version of the Theatrical Cut of the film, presented in 1.78:1 aspect ratio with alternate grading, from a 2K master created by director of photography Paul Laufer • High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentation – alternate HD grade presented in full frame that looks fantastic and will no doubt be favoured by the HD, ultra crisp Blu-Ray crowd but for this reviewer the original 2.39:1 aspect ratio (and DC) is the way to go.
  • Paul Laufer Illuminates, a new interview about the alternate master of The Cell presented on this disc – DP Laufer discusses passionately with great in-depth technical expertise about the above alternate grade/HD version and how it was created. One for the technical aficionados out there!
  • Art is Where You Find It, a new visual essay by film scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas – interesting look at how director Tarsem Singh incorporates modern and classical art into The Cell (and his films as a whole), highlighting where the visuals may have come from and/or what inspired them.
  • The Costuming Auteur, a new visual essay by film critic Abby Bender – fascinating look at the renowned costume designer, Eiko Ishioka’s film career and her working relationship Tarsem Singh, who she worked with on all his films.
  • Style as Substance: Reflections on Tarsem, an archive featurette – archival interviews with cast and crew from the making of The Cell/original DVD release. Features some cool behind the scene footage of the cast and crew making the film.
  • Eight deleted/extended scenes with optional audio commentary by director Tarsem Singh – excellent collection of extended/deleted scenes some of which were rightly trimmed (the SWAT siege of the killers house – which is tighter and tenser in the film!) but some which should have stayed in (more scenes between Vaughn and his FBI partner which add depth to their characters and the real world scenes!). Some commentary with Singh also about why some were cut all together (including several more disturbing scenes of the victims trapped in the cell) which if remained in would have made the film even more oppressive!.
  • Six multi-angle archive visual effects vignettes – seemingly archival visual effects featurettes with the film’s visual effects supervisor, Kevin Tod Haug, walking us through how they created some of the more memorable sequences. A little dry but interesting nonetheless, especially how they combined the practical with the computer generated.
  • Theatrical trailers – both the US and International trailers for the film, the US one selling the flick relatively well while the very dated (and rather awful) international trailer sells the film as if it’s a low budget Hellraiser sequel! Both trailers are rather dated in style, albeit interesting time capsules, that try to sell the film as a flashier, faster moving horror flick!
  • Image gallery – large mixture of onset images and stills from the film, some taken from the alternate/deleted scenes mentioned above.

Another hard to fault release from Arrow, giving an underrated film a full overhaul with a wealth of impressive extras that hopefully a new audience will rediscover, and a once critical audience will re-evaluate.

It’s five out of five again!