Similarity between "Cell" and the new M. Night Shyamalan movie

[mae]

http://the-happening--trailer.blogspot.com/

Or is it just me?

[Storyslinger]

Without the cell phone, yeah, pretty close

[fernandito]

You know, there's also a movie coming out titled The Signal in which this eerie sound broadcasted over television causes people to go crazy/homicidal.


:orely:

[Storyslinger]

INdeed :orely:

[jhanic]

I've liked most of his movies, and this one looks great!

John

[Randall Flagg]

It does look interesting. Thanks for posting.
Since it is about a movie, and is not an official King project, I am going to move it to The Gem Theater.

[Mattrick]

I can see how you would confuse it with cell but I'm sure it's only on the surface. M. Night isn't a man whom doesn't present something original, even if it's not very good at times.

[Heather19]

Looks pretty good. Does anyone know the basic premise of the film? Was it mass suicide or something. Didn't remind me of Cell at all, but the first thing I did think of was Suicide Club (I think that's the name). It's a japanese horror film that came out a couple of years ago.

[OchrisO]

The basic concept os the book Cell isn't a new one anyway. There was an old episode of X-Files called Blood, people are made homicidal by hypnotic LCD messages.That was in 94-ish/ The TV show Threshhold had an episode where an alien audio signal transforms human DNA, making them violent with hive-mind. That was 2005. There was an episode of the new Dr Who where the Cybermen use cellphones to control humans and lead them to a factory where they were turned into Cybermen. The Cybermen also had a hive-mind. There's another episode where the character Master uses subliminal cell phone messages to get people to vote him in as Prime Minister of England. I think those were around 2005.

[Woofer]

Don't forget Telefon (http://imdb.com/title/tt0076804/). :scared:

[Wuducynn]

Most sites I've gone too have the trailer removed.

[mae]

It wasn't so much the plot that looked familiar, but just visually. That scene in the park they showed quickly with the people falling and the woman pulling out that pin out of her hair. Something about the reminded me of the beginning of Cell.

[RUBE]

Maybe it was the people suddenly losing their minds and killing (if only themselves) part?

If you read lower down on that link it says that the happening is from people breathing in some toxin that plants have started putting out that makes them commit violent suicide. So why are people running if the other people are not attacking them and only killing themselves? Are they trying to out-run pollen?

[Erin]

You know, there's also a movie coming out titled The Signal in which this eerie sound broadcasted over television causes people to go crazy/homicidal.


:orely:

This movie hasn't been released yet, but I saw an early screening of it at DragonCon in Atlanta this past summer. It was so so so similar. It wasn't just the TV that caused them to go nuts, there are several people who "turn" after being on their cellphones. :beat:

It was a good movie though.

[John Blaze]

it doesn't remind me of Cell, but it looks very good.

The signal sounds interesting.

[fernandito]

Erin, is it worth going to the theatre and paying 10 of my barely earned dollars for?

[Erin]

I'd say yes. It's really interesting how it was made. Three directors each took a section of the movie and put their own spin on it. So the first section is pretty much hardcore blood and guts, a typical horror movie. The second section is really, really funny, kind of campy-like horror. Then the third section is very serious and a bit surreal. It's neat how it all combines.

I really think you'd enjoy it and highly recommend it.

[Still Servant]

I saw a huge poster board for this the other day. I thought it looked interesting. Now that I know what it's about, I will officially start looking forward to it.

M. Night desperately needs a hit movie. His last two busts have put him in jeopardy of being on the Hollywood irrelevant list. I actually liked The Village, but the Lady in the Water was just not good.

I hope it's good.

[Heather19]

That sounds really interesting. Does anyone know when the release date is?

[fernandito]

That sounds really interesting. Does anyone know when the release date is?

In theatres February 22nd.

Here's the official website :)

http://www.doyouhavethecrazy.com/

[Heather19]

Sorry, I got confused. I thought Erin was talking about The Happening. Does anyone know when that one's coming out.
And yes The Signal does look good. I didn't realize it was coming out next week. Hopefully it'll make it to theaters around here.

[Fishonabike]

Don't forget Telefon (http://imdb.com/title/tt0076804/). :scared:
ZOMG! I thought of the same movie right before reading your post! :borg:

[Randall Flagg]

Looks like we are not only discussing The M. Night movie, but The Signal.
When asked about the similarity to "Cell", "Pulse' and "Ring" the 3 Directors said this:



Q: There are a lot of movies nowadays about the media transforming people in unwanted ways. In "Pulse," computers are causing victims to melt into black spots on the wall. In "Ring," there's a videotape that kills you if you watch it. And Stephen King has a new novel about to be filmed, "Cell," about deadly fallout from cell phones. In "The Signal," the malicious force comes from radio, cell phones, TV - all media.
Gentry: It was just a zeitgeist thing. ... The big difference between those movies and ours is that (the signal that drives the characters crazy) is more the tipping point, it doesn't really have an objective and it really isn't trying (to do evil). (The signal) is not the bad guy, the bad guys are the people and what the signal brings out of them. ... The signal exacerbates your fears and desires, so we as an audience don't know what it wants or what it has to do. ... It's the people's decision making that causes (the evil).
Bruckner: You always have pictures that build upon or prey on a fear of technology that we don't understand. "The Signal" is less about the technology and more about the media, or the signal-to-noise ratio in the world, and it's more typically about violence and aggression. So the central conceit is really just kind of a cool stylistic choice to represent something, and what makes our film different is the way (the signal) works, the way it goes about inciting violence. ... Who knows where we pulled from? We pulled from all over. I mean, I've seen "Pulse" and didn't consciously realize on any level that what we were doing was anything like it at all. But if people see correlations, then maybe they're there.
Bush: I think the people in our movie are already close to the edge. It's a media-dependent culture that we're exploring, which is scary, because we live in one.


Link to full interview
San Francisco Chronicle (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/17/PKCGUVQB0.DTL)