The Signal (2007)

Scary Fun

It's New Year's eve and a strange signal appears on television, on the radio, in telephones. Anything that has a frequency is playing the signal. This signal seems to be playing with people's mind, turning them crazy and giving them a thirst for blood. They start imagining things and start seeing things around them differently.

The movie is seperated in three parts, each directed by a different person. The first part is really the horror one. A young woman goes home after visiting her lover to find her husband, his friends and everyone in her building, completely insane. After spending a restless night trapped in the building, she runs away in order to try and find her lover again.

In the second story, the husband ends up at the home of a couple who were about to have a New Year's eve party. This part is so funny and bloody that I couldn't stop laughing. The horror is extreme and very funny à la Shaun of the Dead. You have talking heads, revived corpses... the lot! The third part is the thriller section. The young woman and the lover are reunited but the husband is still out there ready to seperate them forever.

True, the film might feel a bit disjointed because of these three different genres, but I truly liked this experiment. Your emotions keep shifting throughout the film, going from scares to laughter to thrills. The film never offers a dull moment. It's tight and to the point.

The performances, from unknown actors, are quite good as well. And the style of the film is indie filmmaking at its best. The image is often grainy and dark in its scary moments, while everything is bright and colorful in its humour section.

This is a real horror gem that fans of the genre will enjoy. Highly recommended. October 9, 2008

3 ½ - Stars: Is This "MAD" TV?

Independent horror films have always held a certain charm to me. I like horror films that have no multi-million dollar Studio behind it. Because in independent films, the creative team usually have all the creative control. THE SIGNAL (2007) is a nice piece of an independent horror film, it sets out exactly what it means to do and it brought out strong performances from its cast. This film is a collaboration between three directors and writers: David Bruckner, Dan Bush and Jacob Gentry, and yes, these three even made some minor cameo appearances. (as screaming men)

Synopsis partly derived from the dvd back cover:
It's New year's eve in the city of Terminus (The name of the city itself is quite foreboding) and chaos is this year's resolution. All forms of communication, phones, television and radio have been jammed by a mysterious transmission that preys on fear and desire, paranoia and delusion, that drives the city's population to wanton acts of murder and madness. The collapse of civilization is at hand...

The film is divided into three acts or as the film calls them "transmissions". Act one is directed by David Bruckner and explores Mya's situation (Anessa Ramsey) The beginning credits looks like an ode to older B-movies and very reminiscent to a 70's horror film. Then you see the "signal".

Transmission One: Mya is cheating on her husband with Ben (Justin Welborn) and while her relationship with her husband Lewis (AJ Bowen) is left to the viewer as being a rocky one, it all serves as a set up for the film's violence. It's a slow build up but very effective. It was quite unnerving to see normal people just suddenly go berserk and the saner ones are caught in all the madness. Just who are the homicidal maniacs and which ones are only defending themselves?

Transmission Two is directed by Jacob Gentry and goes into a very different tone. The second act may seem a little silly because of its satirical undertones but works well enough to give the "madness" some needed (ahem) character development. The supporting characters are introduced and Clark (Scott Poythress) has his own theories as to what the signal is. There are several accusing fingers pointed at the media's theorized "subliminal" messages.

Transmission three is the film's final resolution and is directed by (you guessed it) Dan Bush. Hallucinations, lost of mental control take center stage as Clark and Ben tries to find Mya and escape the city, with Lewis hot on their trail .

The film has a lot of personality and does serve up an abundance of brutal violence, blood and some GORE. The film does have its fair share of unnerving intensity and claustrophobia. The well-staged bits of mayhem and chaos succeed in delivering exactly what a true "independent" horror film that somehow feels like a homage to John Carpenter's chaotic films in the 80`s. At first, I was afraid that it would merely focus on a forbidden love and serve up some doses of guilt; but the character introductions became quite impressive although I have to admit that the satire in the 2nd act did give me mixed feelings about the film, however small they were. The satire seems a little out of place and opened some minor plot holes, but I learned to appreciate its VERY dark sense of humor.

AJ Bowen's character, Lewis is actually the main antagonist in a way aside from the situation itself. His mind is so warped that he is doing the right thing that he actually thought that he is protecting himself and those around him. His character seemed a lot more interesting and maybe a little more compelling than Mya or Ben. In a way he is the victim of the affair, and however horrendous his actions may be, he ends up a little pitiable and empathetic.

Now the film does have its share its flaws but it is also part of its charm. The third act seemed a bit too overly dramatic as to how the escape could be achieved and I did feel that the script began to run out of forward momentum. I am not sure whether each "transmission" was made in conjunction with the other or if each act was shot independently but the direction did seem to lose a little restraint and some scenes turned up a little cheap and heavy-handed.

In closing, I do feel that THE SIGNAL is successful bit of independent cinema. The film does serve up a true cinematic experience on a shoestring budget. The strong performances by its cast takes most of its burden and its wit is clever enough for me to overlook its shortcomings. The film is a lot of fun to watch and the atmosphere is foreboding enough to give you some chills and shock value. Unnervingly suspenseful but sometimes a bit silly--it has the makings of a "cult" classic.

Recommended! [3 ½ - Stars]

Features:
Making of/ Deleted Scenes/Director'sCommentary/Breakdowns/Interviews and a short film called "Hap Hapgood Story" October 6, 2008

SOLARIS meets Night of the Living Dead

Buy that I meant that it's a reality shifting zombie movie! I loved it despite negative comments and my own reaction to the opening shots that look like a cool Wes Craven High School project then turns into a ///wait, it gets better and stays the same through 3 titled chapters. When you have a low budget, you have two choices; an art film or a horror movie... this is both. Good luck to these guys on their next flick. Pic this up.... even the Blu-Ray is better with the DTS Master Audio power.Best new low budget Indi horror.The sound is a shaker at moments and thick overall. Picture is everywhere with different looks but provides an environment with different resolution for effect and looks good. Great Fresh Horror BD now. September 25, 2008

Horrible B Horror

This movie is really bad. There is no real story, a mysterious signal is transmitted through phones and TVs and drive pepole to violence, and that is all it is, no plot, no nothing just endless violence. There is no explanation for what is going on and the movie is just bad. Also the mix of bloody violence and goofy humor that can be good, is done horrible here. The movie failed to entertain me in any way. Some pepole may like this becouse it is indy, some seam to think anything indy is automatically good but in truth this movie is trash and nothing else. September 24, 2008

A Fun and Unique Horror Flick

You just never know what to expect with smaller flicks like Signal. Half the time the acting is so off key that you can't believe just how bad it is, and half the time the film looks like old Aunt Petunia shot it herself with a Sony DV.

Signal was neither.

Signal is the story of a strange signal - a signal that somehow resonates over every TV, phone, and radio wave. The signal has a brutal impact on it's listeners.

I thought the acting in this movie was surprisingly good. It was much, much better than your average straight to video horror and/or sci-fi DVDs. I really enjoyed the first 30 minutes the most. During that time, Signal is at its strongest, feeling very fresh, highly unique, and is flat out just a pleasure to watch.

There are some dull spots in the film, but overall it is a must see for fans of horror, sci-fi, and post-apocalyptic junkies. It is no masterpiece, but it is a darn good - and entertaining film. September 21, 2008

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