Serial killer Carl Stargher (Vincent D’Onofrio) goes into a coma after abducting his latest victim. Having left no clues behind, the only way to find out the location of the girl is to enter Stargher’s dreams, which detectives are able to do courtesy of experimental technology that social workers are using for dream therapy on their extreme cases.
Jennifer Lopez is Catherine Deane, a social worker who uses the technology to help bring a catatonic boy out of his state. She is approached by Detective Novak (Vince Vaughn) to enter Stargher’s mind to help save a woman who is in extreme danger. Stargher is in a coma that he will most likely never emerge from and Catherine is their only hope.
The danger here is that Stargher is schizophrenic and Catherine has to remember that nothing she sees in his dreams is real. If she starts to believe that any of it is actually reality, she can become trapped in his mind and can die.
Stargher’s dreams are a scary mess of horrible childhood memories and riddles. It is no surprise that Catherine gets sucked into it all as a reality. The second she gets frightened, she has accepted that it is real. If that was the case, I wouldn’t have lasted very long in his head at all. It is like tripping acid while watching A Nightmare on Elm Street being directed by Roman Polanski.
Vincent D’Onofrio steals the whole movie. I personally find it to be his best role since Full Metal Jacket. There is a scene in the film where he has finally sucked Catherine into his world and the evil inside has overthrown any bit of innocence in Stargher, so he becomes this God in his mind. His voice is demonic and slurred and he has complete control over Catherine. You finally see what it is in Stargher that pushes him to kill. It’s scary to see that evil put into human form.
The Cell is an incredibly visually pleasing film. The dream world is dark, twisted and scary but the colors and delivery are absolutely stunning. At one point a horse is cut into several pieces by glass walls that fall and separate it. While incredibly disturbing to watch, they somehow make even that seem beautiful.
That being said, there are more visuals to the film than there is story line. We are given the very basic plot and from there we are left to decipher what is happening through the chaos in Stargher’s mind. Most of it doesn’t make any sense but now and then you are given details about his childhood and about why he is the way he is. Then there are small hints strewn about to let the detectives know where the kidnapped girl is hidden. If you don’t mind less thought and more visuals, you won’t have any complaints.
The Cell is what I watch when I’m in the mood for something truly dark and strange. Since that is what October is all about, I felt the film belonged in this year’s rotation. I recommend watching this one in the dark for the full effect but prepare yourself for some crazy dreams.
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Ann Hale is the horror editor for Pop-Break.com and a senior contributing writer, reviewing horror movies and television shows. She is also the American Correspondent for Lovehorror.co.uk. Ann attended East Carolina University, majoring in English Literature. She is a collector of Halloween (the film) memorabilia and is a self-admitted opinionated horror nerd. You can follow her, her collection and her cat, Edward Kittyhands on Twitter and Instagram @Scarletjupiter
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