The Cell

"Wow, this looks expensive," was the only thought going through my head for the entirety of this supremely over-produced and equally under-achieving psychological sicko chiller. Taking place largely inside the inexplicably stylish mind of a serial killer, the movie is festooned with graphic, sadomasochistic imagery amidst dark, cavernous landscapes: fantasy torture chambers, as if the production designer went on a double-espresso design jag after waking up from a Goth-meets-Architectural Digest wet dream. Ostensibly the film is about an unorthodox shrink (Jennifer Lopez) using a computer-enhanced mind-meld technique to bungee jump into the comatose subconscious of a particularly twisted murderer (Vincent D'Onofrio) to discover where his latest victim is being held in time to save her. But in reality, there's not much to The Cell beyond its nightmare visuals. Not a necessary purchase. (R. Blackwelder)