Cell 213 (2011)

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Holy hell! I was not expecting the movie to be this good! Clever movie, with a few shocks, a few twists, and just the right amount of violence, insanity, and madness to make this probably the greatest horror/thriller I've seen in a very long time. First of all, forget about the low rating, it's obvious to me that people just do not have an appetite for well made films that involve great cinematography when they see that a film is suppose to be, what they would expect, a horror movie. Yes, this is a horror movie. However, it is more of a psychological horror, a very disturbing, intricately laced horror. I gave this a high rating for several reasons, and I cannot discuss the main reason without spoiling the key points ( not to mention the main plot) of the film. The script is excellent, the dialog is crisp, and the sensation overall is believable. It's not perfect, there's a few flaws, a few plot holes, and at least one scene where I was thinking : "Now, wait a minute. If...ya ya ya..." Can't tell you. I highly recommend watching this, if your looking for a slick, scary, messed up psychological horror film, please rent this, I don't think you will be disappointed.

As much as I roll my unworthy eyes at Claudio's reviews (4 paragraph synopsis of the story, 2 sentence 'review'...) I must admit that I agree with his sparse comments and his rating of this film.I too rated it a '7'. BUT... you have to understand that this is a VERY slow-burn, low-key 'Horror' film where, when you get right down to it, not a whole lot happens. The strong point of this movie is it's well crafted and very effective atmosphere. *** IF *** you can get into Horror films that are mostly comprised of mood and atmosphere as opposed to a lot of Action and violence, THEN you might appreciate and enjoy this movie. I really liked the way the director used the photography and particularly the sound design to create what I felt was, in my lowly and wretched opinion, a very effective and suspenseful, moody Horror film.Don't get me wrong... I frigg'n LOVE some of the all-out kick your balls up behind your ears Horror movies if they are made well, but I also enjoy low-key, well crafted, moody ones like this one. As long as you don't mind the light use of action and violence, you really can get caught up in the moody atmosphere of a movie like this.The acting throughout was also very good, with the principles doing an excellent job in their roles. I think that since the story in itself is so simple and straight-forward, it really falls to the director to be able to bring it all together in such a way to create the suspense and tension in order to make it effective and to do what it is supposed to do.So, unlike one of the early reviewers above who basically sliced and diced this movie telling us in detail WHY it was so bad, if you can appreciate THIS KIND of Horror film as I have tried in my inept way to explain so you can understand, then I would think that there is a good chance that you will find it entertaining. Remember too... it is basically Supernaturally themed, so if movies like that just make you roll your eyes and you feel that they are complete BS, then by all means give this one a pass...Oh, FWIW I really dug the 'BLADE RUNNER' lighting at the very end...

The unethical lawyer Michael Grey (Eric Balfour) is defending a criminal in court and if he succeeds, he will become partner of the office where he works. He secretly hires a criminal to frighten an important witness from the prosecutor to win the case. The trial is suspended to the next day and Michael drives to the South River State Penitentiary to visit another client. Michael is received by the Warden (Bruce Greenwood) and guard Ray Clement (Michael Rooker) that blames him for releasing criminals from prison. While alone with his client, the inmate takes Michael's pen and stabs himself in his own neck. Ray accuses Michael of murdering the inmate and the lawyer is sentenced to the prison. He is locked in cell 213 and has an abusive treatment from the Warden and Ray. Michael has visions in the cell and soon he discovers that the criminal he hired has killed the witness and his family. Further, his deceased client is haunting him. Meanwhile the government agent Audrey Davis (Deborah Valente) comes to South River State Penitentiary to investigate the staff and prisoners. Soon she discovers the sadistic behavior of Ray and that Michael is innocent. But Michael finds that God and the devil are disputing his soul and he might have no salvation. "Cell 213" is a horror film with great potential but flawed story. The idea of a place in a prison where God and the devil dispute souls of inmates is totally original, but the story could have been better written. Bruce Greenwood performs an ambiguous character and Eric Balfour has a good performance. Michael Rooker performs a dysfunctional character, actually his usual role. The cinematography is dark and creepy in high-quality. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Cela 213" ("Cell 213")

Total waste of time. Cinematography was good, the ending was terrible.....no closure, no answers, no real resolution. There had better not be a second one as it can only get worse from here. The premise of the movie was pretty cool and had a lot of potential. I feel like the writers at the end of the script just wanted to end it. Like I said, the only thing that was really disappointing was the ending and lack of closure. There is no background history with anyone, especially the culprits involved in the evilness of prison. It's entertaining at least due to the violence and almost believable cast. The side stories were weak to say the least. When the credits started to roll I'm not gonna lie, I was just shocked that it lacked a resolution to an almost 2 hour movie. Total bag of BS. Other than that, enjoy folks!