THE CELL: Sometimes Looks Are Everything

THE CELL (4K & Blu-ray)

2000 / 107 & 109 min (3 versions)

From Arrow Video

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Sometimes looks are everything…

Take 2000’s The Cell, for example. When you strip away the accouterments, you essentially have a sci-fi/horror variation of The Silence of the Lambs, with psychologist Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) using an experimental device to enter the mind of serial killer Carl Rudolph Stargher (Vincent D’Onofrio), who has fallen into a coma after abducting and imprisoning his latest victim. It’s her task to learn her location before she dies. 

A fairly straightforward story, it’s mostly bereft of surprises and comes to a fairly predictable conclusion. Ditto the characters…who are mostly standard-issue, including its twisted antagonist (a trope we’d come to expect by then). Overall, the performances are good but unremarkable. I know D’Onofrio has frequently been singled out for particular praise, but really, he’s always excelled at playing weirdos. Stargher’s the kind of guy he can do in his sleep, and aside from some early scenes, D’Onofrio is buried under so much make-up that he could have been played by anybody.

However, The Cell is such a visual marvel that the aesthetics alone make it worth seeing…probably repeatedly. More so than any horror film since Suspiria, it’s beautiful - sometimes grotesquely beautiful - just to look at, with scores of individual scenes that are works of art unto themselves (some were actually inspired by works of art). The cinematography, production design, costuming make-up and special effects are the work of imaginations run wild. Those aspects, more than anything, are arguably the primary reason the film remains revered today.

"You know, Jen, I've have enough of your nonsense."

Arrow Video has done right by the film with an excellent limited edition release, which is offered in 4K and Blu-ray editions. They feature outstanding 4K restorations of both the original theatrical version and the director’s cut (which runs about two minutes longer). Additionally, the second disc includes a yet-another version, put together by director of photography Paul Laufer and presented in a different aspect ratio (1.78:1) with alternate grading. Not necessarily an improvement, but an interesting new way to view the film.

Additionally, there’s an abundance of new and archival bonus features that, unsurprisingly, tend to be geared more toward the film’s visual and technical aspects. It’s all outlined below, and fans of The Cell should find most of it pretty interesting. This set also includes new packaging, artwork and a supplemental booklet, but those weren’t made available for review.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

THEATRICAL & DIRECTOR’S CUTS

ALTERNATE VERSION - This is in a different aspect ratio than the original, overseen by director of photography Paul Laufer.

NEW INTERVIEWS - Projection of the Mind’s Eye is a feature-length interview with director Tarsem Singh (the best of the bonus features); Between Two Worlds features director of photography Paul Laufer.

VISUAL ESSAYS - Art is Where You Find It, by film scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas; The Costuming Auteur, by critic Abby Bender.

FEATURETTES - Paul Laufer Illuminates features the director of photography’s purpose and process of creating the alternate aspect ratio & grading version; Style as Substance: Reflections on Tarsem is an archival featurette.

4 AUDIO COMMENTARIES - 1) By Josh Nelson & Alexandra Heller-Nicholas; 2) By screenwriter Mark Protosevich & critic Kay Lynch; 3) By director Tarsem Singh; 4) By director of photography Paul Laufer, production designer Tom Foden, makeup artist Michele Burke, costume designer April Napier, FX supervisor Kevin Tod Haug and composer Howard Shore.

8 DELETED SCENES - With optional commentary by director Tarsem Singh

6 MULTI-ANGLE FX VIGNETTES

IMAGE GALLERY

U.S. & INTERNATIONAL TRAILERS