Cell (2016)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2016
	Director: Tod Williams (Paranormal Activity 2)
	Actors: John Cusack (2012), Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), Isabelle Fuhrman
	Country: USA
	Genre: Horror, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 23.04.2019, VOD, 42" TV screen.
Synopsis: When a cell phone signal turns people into blood-thirsty killers, Clay (Cusack) goes looking for his wife and son, accompanied by train conductor Tom (Jackson).
Review: There has been many cinema adaptation of novels from the prolific writer Stephen King, some for TV and some for cinema, some as movies some as series, some good and some bad, some with screenplay written by the master and some not. Among the great ones across all categories are Carrie, Salem's Lot, The Shining, The Dead Zone, Christine, Misery, The Green Mile, The Mist... Cell is a movie made for cinema, with King as producer and.... among the worst next to The Dark Tower although for different reasons. Note that I can't comment on the quality of the adaptation from the novel itself as I have not read it, but I have read online that it is quite far from the original material. The movie looks cheap from the get-go (those black title cards and the cheap generic music!) and although it does get better (or we get used to the cheapness), it is still of a very low level. A surprise apparition by Lloyd Kaufman, president of the Troma independent film company, shows a bit towards which style the movie leans (although he is also seen in James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy). It is a bit paradoxical because the sets are generally large, the effects ambitious (there is a plane crash) and the movie could afford John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson (I have no idea how he ended up there). Those two are quite natural, but the acting of the rest of the cast is not good, especially the "phoners" which are kind of "infected" or "fast zombies". Because yes, from the start it is another undead movie and it doesn't have anything to differentiate itself from the others even though the virus is electronic and not biologic. The main characters have to hide, understand the rules of the the infection, meet other survivors, doubt them, see some die etc... All along I was hoping for the Stephen King proprietary twist that would made the movie worth it, but it only comes in small dose where you can recognize his touch. But by then the damage is done, I was too detached from the story to care about the vague ending and the fact that nothing is explained.
Rating: 3 /10