Cell (2016)

When a mysterious cell phone signal causes apocalyptic chaos, an artist is determined to reunite with his young son in New England.

Director:

Tod Williams

Writers:

Stephen King (based on the novel by), Stephen King (screenplay by)

Stars:

John Cusack, Samuel L. Jackson, Isabelle Fuhrman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Cusack	...	Clay Riddell
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Tom McCourt
Isabelle Fuhrman	...	Alice Waxman
Clark Sarullo	...	Sharon Riddell
Ethan Andrew Casto	...	Johnny Riddell
Owen Teague	...	Jordan
Stacy Keach	...	Charles Ardai
Joshua Mikel	...	Raggedy
Anthony Reynolds	...	Ray
Erin Elizabeth Burns	...	Denise
Jeff Hallman	...	Hog-Tied Man (as Jeffrey Hallman)
Mark Ashworth	...	Bartender
Wilbur Fitzgerald	...	Geoff
Catherine Dyer	...	Sally
E. Roger Mitchell	...	Roscoe

Storyline

When a strange signal pulsates through all cell phone networks worldwide, it starts a murderous epidemic of epic proportions when users become bloodthirsty creatures, and a group of people in New England are among the survivors to deal with the ensuing chaos after.

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Plot Keywords:

cell phone | signal | zombie apocalypse | survivor | artist | 

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Taglines:

When everyone is connected no one is safe

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent content, terror, brief sexuality and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 June 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Signal

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Genre Co.,Benaroya Pictures,120dB Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the opening airport scene, the flight to Manchester, New Hampshire is changed to gate A6. A6 is the lethal virus strain from the Stephen King novel The Stand.

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Goofs

The main characters run into a kid sitting on a swing petting a dog. They finally get his attention, and it turns out he's infected and he starts running towards them. They shoot him. They then see dozens of other infected people behind trees and starting to chase them. They run and hide under a boat until the infected go away. The problem is there's no way they would have time to hide under the boat with the infected not seeing them. The infected people chasing them were a mere 20-30 feet away.

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Quotes

Johnny Riddell: What's the name of the place we're going?
Clay Riddell: Canada.

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Crazy Credits

After the closing credits have finished, the catalyst signal from the movie plays for approximately 5-10 seconds, with no image, as if attempting to convert the audience.

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Connections

Referenced in Sean Bradley Reviews: The Dark Tower (2017)

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Soundtracks

Ring My Bell
Written by Frederick Knight (as Frederick Douglas Knight)
Performed by Anita Ward

User Reviews

Absolute garbage. Possible contestant for worst movie ever.

I'm not talking about it being just a bad adaptation either, the book wasn't exactly King's best work, it was just his jab at a zombie story. However, even a King book that isn't great by his standards is still a good book. He always writes a good narrative and he always has some good and fleshed out characters that grow on you throughout the story.

The characters in this movie aren't fleshed out, and they don't grow on you at all. The book was heavily driven by dialogue and through the viewpoint of Clay, the protagonist. There was very little in the way of good dialogue in this movie, there was practically nothing in the way of character development.

The plot moved way too quickly to be good, as if they were just checking a list of locations from a list. As a result, the plot felt like a convoluted nightmare where it was impossible to care. I won't spoil the ending but if you watch it, just know it's perfectly normal to feel angry.

The movie also had a level of technical ineptitude I thought impossible, with shitty CGI and worse sound effects.

I could write for hours and hours about how bad this movie is, but that would be a bigger wall of text than I've written already. Watch at your own risk, but if you want an enjoyable apocalypse story just read the book instead.

If you're gonna watch, get a few shots of vodka down you first.