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IMDbPro

Cecil B. Demented

  • 2000
  • 12
  • 1h 27m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
18K
YOUR RATING
Melanie Griffith and Stephen Dorff in Cecil B. Demented (2000)
Trailer
Play trailer0:57
1 Video
96 Photos
Dark ComedySatireComedyCrimeThriller

An insane independent film director and his renegade group of teenage filmmakers kidnap an A-list Hollywood actress and force her to star in their underground film.An insane independent film director and his renegade group of teenage filmmakers kidnap an A-list Hollywood actress and force her to star in their underground film.An insane independent film director and his renegade group of teenage filmmakers kidnap an A-list Hollywood actress and force her to star in their underground film.

  • Director
    • John Waters
  • Writer
    • John Waters
  • Stars
    • Melanie Griffith
    • Stephen Dorff
    • Alicia Witt
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.3/10
    18K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • John Waters
    • Writer
      • John Waters
    • Stars
      • Melanie Griffith
      • Stephen Dorff
      • Alicia Witt
    • 156User reviews
    • 64Critic reviews
    • 57Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations total

    Videos1

    Cecil B. Demented
    Trailer 0:57
    Cecil B. Demented

    Photos96

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    Top cast99+

    Edit
    Melanie Griffith
    Melanie Griffith
    • Honey Whitlock
    Stephen Dorff
    Stephen Dorff
    • Cecil B. Demented
    Alicia Witt
    Alicia Witt
    • Cherish
    Adrian Grenier
    Adrian Grenier
    • Lyle
    Lawrence Gilliard Jr.
    Lawrence Gilliard Jr.
    • Lewis
    • (as Larry Gilliard Jr.)
    Maggie Gyllenhaal
    Maggie Gyllenhaal
    • Raven
    Jack Noseworthy
    Jack Noseworthy
    • Rodney
    Mink Stole
    Mink Stole
    • Mrs. Sylvia Mallory
    Ricki Lake
    Ricki Lake
    • Libby
    Patricia Hearst
    Patricia Hearst
    • Fidget's Mom
    Michael Shannon
    Michael Shannon
    • Petie
    • (as Mike Shannon)
    Kevin Nealon
    Kevin Nealon
    • Kevin
    Eric Barry
    Eric Barry
    • Fidget
    • (as Eric M. Barry)
    Zenzele Uzoma
    • Chardonnay
    Erika Auchterlonie
    Erika Auchterlonie
    • Pam
    • (as Erika Lynn Rupli)
    Harry Dodge
    • Dinah
    • (as Harriet Dodge)
    Roseanne Barr
    Roseanne Barr
    • Rosanne
    • (as Rosanne)
    Eric Roberts
    Eric Roberts
    • Honey's Ex
    • Director
      • John Waters
    • Writer
      • John Waters
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews156

    6.317.5K
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    Featured reviews

    Infofreak

    Waters' return to form

    While I've enjoyed John Waters recent output, movies like Pecker and Serial Mom have played it a little to safe for my liking. It's great to think of middle-America watching any kind of Waters movie rather than pap like Pearl Harbor and The Mummy Returns, but these movies only give half the picture. While Cecil B. Demented isn't pure unadulterated Waters like Pink Flamingos, it is his best movie since Cry Baby, and a complete HOOT. Man, the sheer energy and humour of this movie, and the basic message of its love for REAL cinema, really pushed my buttons and left me grinning from ear to ear, and UP for a week afterwards! Hopefully someone out there is listening, 'gets it', and will check out some earlier Waters, and some of the work of Sprockets heroes, and their lives will be enriched forever.
    7aimless-46

    Watch Out for Those "Genre Specific" Audiences

    Any film with Alicia Witt and Maggie Gyllenhaal has very good things going for it visually. And although a little weird for mainstream audiences, "Cecil B. DeMented is a very entertaining film. Imagine a spoof about the American film industry and American movie audiences, packaged as a cross between "Dr. Strangelove" and "State and Main".

    It is after all a John Waters film, and a film set in his hometown of Baltimore. Which means the jokes will be hit-and-miss, with many best appreciated by film industry insiders and Baltimore natives. But the obvious fun the cast has playing their out-there characters is infectious. Melanie Griffith (Tippi Hedren's daughter) has a ball tweaking her diva image as she plays an aging star gradually won over to the cause of her kidnappers (insert Patti Hearst here who actually has a small part in the picture). Alicia Witt gives her best ever performance as the delectable porn star turned revolutionary. The best scene is when she and her fellow film revolutionaries hide out at a porn theater showing "Rear Entry", an anal epic co-starring Witt and a randy gerbil.

    Stephen Dorff, before he went insane and got involved with Pamela (slug) Anderson, does a good job as the title character. But watch closely for an absolutely glowing performance by Gyllenhaal. She is something special with lines like: "I haven't had this much fun since my last livestock mutilation!"

    Worth watching if you have a sense of humor, even better if you are demented.
    8dfranzen70

    Unstill Waters

    Many of you have probably never heard of this film, which stars Stephen Dorff as a rebel filmmaker who goes to some interesting extremes to get his movie made. The film is directed by noted underground director John Waters, and Waters tosses in scores of Hollywood in-jokes (check out the marquee during the opening credits!). The reason more people didn't see this in the theater is simply that it's so... so... different. It's highly unique, and therefore less likely to appeal to a mass audience.

    But you do need to see it, really! Cecil B. Demented (Dorff) is the leader of a motley band of would-be film aficionados who kidnap a Hollywood actress (Melanie Griffith) at the premiere of her latest film. Demented's idea is to make a movie using guerrilla tactics, making the statement that studio films are Bad and independent films are Good. Waters' point is that the studio system is such that any movie coming out of it fits into a formula to make it more palatable to the masses - that is, that the movies you see in the multiplexes are dumbed down for your viewing pleasure.

    Demented tries to achieve his vision by staging protests of a sort at movie houses, film screenings, speeches, and even a drive-in. His entourage includes a Satanist, a former porn star, and many other social and sexual deviants. There's hardly a taboo subject Waters doesn't cover here! And to be sure, the character of Demented himself never changes, which is in itself a welcome respite. Had this been a Hollywood film, you might have seen the nefarious filmmaker suddenly see the error of his ways in the final three minutes. I won't give anything away to you, folks, but rest assured that the characters remain true to themselves, except for Griffith's character. She changes, but it's a subtle, honest change.

    There are surprises everywhere you turn, but let me warn you: this is absolutely not a film for everyone. There is plenty here to offend even the most open of minds. It is at once a unique, refreshing, and exciting film. It never even rests to catch its breath - it doesn't want the audience to fall back into its Hollywoodized lull.

    Major kudos for screenwriting go to Waters and to his amazing cast. If you're into offbeat films, please watch this.
    castansfield

    It's just a film, and it's a funny one!

    Last night, I saw Cecil B. DeMented at a special screening hosted by John Waters, who took questions after the fact. After taking into account my own impressions of the movie, John Waters' apparent impressions, and the comments on this site, I really have to conclude that most of the commentors don't quite get the point. This movie was not in any sense meant to be taken seriously, and yet the detractors label it a hypocritical satire while the fans read it as an honest indictment of Hollywood- in both cases, the commentors are barking up the wrong tree, in my opinion. If Cecil B. Demented is to be taken as a genuine satire, it is clearly meant as a satire of both sides of the argument. Waters does not take sides in this movie- he portrays Cecil and his Sprocket Holes as pretentious loons and cultists, and the "Hollywood (actually Baltimore) Filmmaking Establishment" as tasteless middlebrow panderers. It is obvious in these portrayals that Waters thinks they're ALL pains in the ass- after all, Pauline Kael-ite auteur-lovers ARE pretentious, and Hollywood DOES turn out a lot of lousy shlock. The critic who points out that the Sprockets' tattoos "read like a list of directors kids SHOULD be watching" and who compares the love of Preminger with the dislike of Lean clearly doesn't realize that Waters is in on the contradiction. The Sprockets celebrate "art movies" as they celebrate pornography and Kung Fu flicks. It should be apparent to almost anyone that the Sprockets are no more meant to be role models for the moviegoing public than the makers of "Forrest Gump II" are. First and foremost, the movie is meant to be funny, and it succeeds admirably on that count. True, the humor is sometimes overly crude and often falls flat, but any movie with memorable dialogue such as "Before I was a drug addict, I had all KINDS of problems- now I just have one!" can't be considered bad. Waters seems to consider this film, like most of his others, a lark- a reflection of his own sense of humor. When asked his inspiration, Waters pretty much admits that he just thought it would be fun to suppose what would happen if the readers of Film Threat magazine really took their anger to the next level. When asked if Cecil is a reflection of himself, Waters is quick to discredit the notion, pointing out that Cecil has utterly no sense of humor. In fact, the main target Waters skewers in this film are people who take things too seriously. Judging from the other comments on this page, those humorless people have trouble recognizing themselves in the film.
    8jhclues

    "I'm Ready For My Close-up, Mr. Demented..."

    Mainstream movies and the studio system, as well as independent films and filmmakers, are sliced, diced, hammered and shredded by writer/director John Waters in his biting and funny satire, `Cecil B. Demented,' starring Stephen Dorff and Melanie Griffith. Railing against convention and adamant in his quest, a young man who wants to make a statement about bad movies, the way they're made, those who participate in these cinematic transgressions and those who flock to theaters to see the final product, dubs himself `Cecil B. Demented' and sets out to make a `real' indie film. Toward this end, he assembles a group of like-thinking would-be filmmakers and forms them into a lethal band of cinematic guerrillas he names the `Sprocket Holes,' and has them take jobs at and infiltrate a theater in Baltimore that is about to hold a lavish premiere of a new movie featuring Hollywood star Honey Whitlock (Griffith). Honey herself is scheduled to attend, and Demented's plan is to kidnap her and force her to star in his film, which will be shot `ambush' style, intruding upon real people and situations, rolling film and getting it in the can before anyone knows what happened. He hopes. Dedicated to making the kind of movie that should be made, the Sprocket Holes are not only willing to die for their art, but go so far as to take a vow to remain chaste until the film is completed.

    `Demented' is by turns outrageous, violent and hilarious, and-- some would say, subjectively speaking-- that Waters pushes the envelope of good taste to the limit. But then again, he usually does, and it usually works. Anyone who knows John Waters' movies knows what to expect (indeed, anticipate), but those who come to his work unawares may be in for a jaw-dropping eye opener. When satire is done well it can cut both ways; this one is, and it does. Movies made by the studios for no other purpose than to make a buck, and which contain no artistic merit whatsoever are the obvious target of Waters' barrage, but so are the `auteur,' legends-in-their-own-minds `indie' filmmakers with a penchant for taking themselves too seriously. Along the way, Waters is having a laugh at himself, even as he laughs along with his fellow filmmakers at both ends of the spectrum, those at whom his shots are being fired.

    As Demented, Dorff takes a somewhat over-the-top and highly energized approach to the character, in a performance punctuated with exclamation points. But he leaves no doubt in the mind of the viewer that he IS Cecil B. Demented. And you know that come what may, there's going to be no stopping him. Griffith, meanwhile, adds a nice touch as Honey, a character through whom we see all the transparencies of a Hollywood `star,' whose career has never been hampered by bad acting. Inured of a caustic and ego driven personality, she nevertheless manages to garner some sympathy as the story moves along and her vulnerable side is exposed. Griffith is perfect for the part, which is something of a good natured nudge in the ribs of her own image. As intended, it's just another instance of Waters pulling aside the curtain to reveal what is really behind the facade.

    In a supporting role, Alicia Witt gives a memorable performance as Cherish, the porn star who sees her co-starring role with Honey in Demented's film as a way of legitimizing her career, while at the same time thumbing her nose at the industry that has for so long shunned her `talents.' The additional supporting cast includes Adrian Grenier (Lyle), Larry Gilliard Jr. (Lewis), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Raven), Jack Noseworthy (Rodney), Michael Shannon (Petie), Harriet Dodge (Dinah), Zenzele Uzoma (Chardonnay), Eric M. Barry (Fidget), Erika Lynn Rupli (Pam), Mink Stole (Mrs. Mallory), Patty Hearst (Fidget's Mother), Ricki Lake (Libby) and Kevin Nealon (Himself). A film that will definitely get your attention, `Cecil B. Demented' sets pretentiousness on it's ear by saying what most people think but rarely say due to the constraints of social protocol. Waters crosses some lines and doesn't pull any punches with this one, which may make it a bit hard for some to take; but movie lovers in general, and aficionados of independent film especially, should get a real kick out of it. It may be a bit skewed, but it's all a part of the magic of the movies. I rate this one 8/10.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The tattoos on the cast and crew are as follows:
      • Cecil - Otto Preminger - left forearm
      • Cherish - Andy Warhol - thigh
      • Lyle - Herschell Gordon Lewis - left breast
      • Pam - Sam Peckinpah - left arm
      • Chardonnay - Spike Lee - stomach
      • Lewis - David Lynch - knuckles
      • Fidget - William Castle - chest
      • Raven - Kenneth Anger - chest
      • Rodney - Almodovar (presumably Pedro Almodóvar) - right arm
      • Petie - Fassbinder (presumably Rainer Werner Fassbinder) - left forearm
      • Dyna - Sam Fuller (aka Samuel Fuller) - right forearm
    • Goofs
      In the chase scene with the Baltimore PD, the left front tire of the police cruiser is shot causing it to go flat and the cruiser to crash into a movie theater box office. As the cruiser slams into the box office, the tire has miraculously been re-inflated.
    • Quotes

      Honey: How can you be a drug addict in the new millennium? It's so retro.

      Lyle: Before I was a drug addict, I had so many different problems. Now I just have one - drugs! Gave my life a real focus.

    • Crazy credits
      The credits thank "Fred and Ginger" both insinuating Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, the dance duo, and "Fred e Ginger" a movie by Federico Fellini, paying homage to the duo.
    • Alternate versions
      There was a quick shot in earlier prints of the movie theater showing the director's cut of "Patch Adams", where we see the sign advertising the director's cut. This shot can still be seen on the intro to the DVD menu, and in one of the trailers.
    • Connections
      Featured in SexTV: Pink or Blue?: The Science of Sex Selection/John Waters (2004)
    • Soundtracks
      Opening Credit Theme
      Written, Produced and Performed by Moby

      Featuring samples from "Music for the Movies 1"

      Written by Larry Hochman

      Courtesy of V2 Records/ Mute Records/ Destiny Music Ltd.

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    FAQ19

    • How long is Cecil B. Demented?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • August 2, 2000 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • France
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Cecil B. Demente
    • Filming locations
      • Baltimore, Maryland, USA
    • Production companies
      • Artic Productions LLC
      • Artisan Entertainment
      • Bac Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $10,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $1,284,646
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $127,141
      • Aug 13, 2000
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,961,544
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 27 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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    Melanie Griffith and Stephen Dorff in Cecil B. Demented (2000)
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