Cell (2016)


Although many Stephen King books dwell on cosmic terrors and monsters that are often quite human, there have been a number of his books that dwelt on more traditional horror material.  He got vampires and werewolves out of his way early in his career, and there have been plenty of ghosts, but it wasn't until 2006 that he decided to enter the realm of zombies, despite being friends and often a collaborator with George A. Romero. 

When it came time to do zombies King decided not to go with the traditional but instead added a healthy dose of technological fear.  For Cell he pulled from movies such as 28 Days Later and added a hefty dose of Richard Matheson's I Am Legend on top of it.  What he created still had many of the apocalyptic tropes that surround these stories, but it was something purely him.  It was also relatively short and pulpy.  It was one of the late-career novels that pulled King out of the mire of overlong epics he had been churning out in the 1990s.

Cell had movie written all over it from the beginning and it wasn't long before that was in the works, originally with Eli Roth directing.  After that fell through the title was put up on the market, King eventually co-wrote a script with a new ending as some fans had complained about the conclusion of the book, and despite John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson being attached it still took a long time to get the movie made and distributed.  What eventually came of it was far from worth the effort. 

Clay Riddell (Cusack) is a graphic novelist who is having marital issues.  He has just scored a contract to use his character in a series and, while in Boston, calls his wife (Clark Surullo) and son (Ethan Andrew Casto) in hopes of coming to see then in New Hampshire.  His phone dies, forcing him to attempt to use a payphone.  However, at that moment, a signal comes through everyone's phones that turns them violent.  Those who heard the signal immediately begin trying to kill those who haven't.

Clay escapes the airport to the subway where he meets Tom McCourt (Jackson), a train engineer who agrees to help him and others walk out.  Tom and Clay make it to the latter's apartment where they are joined by Clay's neighbor Alice (Isabelle Fuhrman) and the three head off on foot to get to Clay's home in New Hampshire in hopes of finding his family alive.  While on the way they discover that the "phoners" tend to flock like birds and reboot at night.  They, as well as others, also begin to have dreams of the Raggedy Man, the hooded figure that featured in Riddell's books.  

A major problem with the movie adaptation of Cell is that King did not need to listen to the whiners who didn't like the ending.  His weakness usually is coming up with a satisfying finale to his novels, but in the case of Cell it was similar to the recent movie Weapons.  Things aren't tied up in a bow, there is some room for interpretation on what the future holds, but the ending is strong.  The movie ending, on the other hand, is a mess.  

The poor direction by Tod Williams doesn't do any favors.  I like the Paranormal Activity films, but applying a handheld style to this story was a mistake.  It looks amateurish.  Combine that with the awful CGI and, despite Cusack and Jackson at least attempting to salvage the movie, things begin to range from uninteresting to unwatchable rather quick.  This was originally supposed to receive a theatrical release but eventually ended up on streaming as, after being kicked around from distributor to distributor, it turned out that everyone knew they had made a big mistake on this one.

Cell (2016)
Time: 98 minutes
Starring: John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Isabelle Fuhrman
Director: Tod Williams









 

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