The Signal [Blu-ray]
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Movie Reviews of The Signal [Blu-ray]
Movie Review: entertaining horror comedy
Summary: 3 Stars
***1/2
"The Signal" starts off like a straightforward horror film on the order of "Night of the Living Dead" or "28 Days Later," but about a third of the way through, it turns into a tongue-in-cheek parody of the whole apocalyptic-thriller genre.
It's New Year's Eve, and a mysterious, hypnotic signal is being broadcast on TVs and radios across the planet, resulting in a mass psychosis that turns ordinary, average citizens into cold-blooded killers.
This is a fun, good-natured spoof that is as creepy as it is amusing, at least up to a point. That point is passed a few times when the movie turns a little more gruesome and sadistic than it really needs to be. Yet, despite having to work with an extremely low budget, directors David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry and Dan Bush do an effective job creating a post-apocalyptic atmosphere, while the script, co-written by all three men, employs a canny combination of flashbacks and fantasy sequences as part of the narrative.
A spirited and unnerving parable about urban paranoia, "The Signal" should delight fans of offbeat horror.
Movie Review: An inventive and engaging horror dirge
Summary: 4 Stars
You won't find many films, horror or otherwise, like The Signal. Split apart into three segments by three different directors, The Signal details the story of a bizarre signal sent out through televisions, radio, and cell-phones that turns people into homicidal maniacs. Caught in the middle are Mya (Anessa Ramsey) and her lover Ben (Justin Welborn), as well as Mya's insane husband Lewis (AJ Bowen) among others. What The Signal manages to do very well is orchestrate levels of chaos and dread while keeping the suspense, and blood, pumping. This is one of the few films where you actually will not be expecting what to happen next, which in itself is refreshing. What stops The Signal from being a perfect horror dirge however is that having three writers/directors splitting the film into segments makes for an inconsistent quality. As the Amazon review states, the film goes from frightening and interesting to very darkly humerous and then concludes in a bit of a bleak climax. Still, The Signal manages to leave an impression, and it is incredibly refreshing to see an original horror film trying to do something different. And it's even better when it works out as well as The Signal manages to do. All in all, The Signal is something that absolutely deserves your attention if you consider yourself a horror fan in the least bit.Movie Review: An experiment by 3 directors goes wrong.
Summary: 3 Stars
Well, here's a well hyped film that starts out promising and actually ends pretty well yet fails miserably in the middle (but for reasons you wouldn't think). Unfortunately this is a result of a middle which doesn't fit with the rest of the film causing this flick to be, though a nice little horror film, a failure.
The film is a take on the zombie genre but twists it with a very original spin (unless you're Stephen King). Rather than having folks being infected by a virus or folks that have risen from the dead, we have a signal (similar to white noise) that one night comes across the television turning folks into crazies, disturbed, or simply brain dead (think of Stephen King's novel Cell but with a television rather than a cellphone). So though some folks turn into harmless nuts, a great many become violent murderers or hallucinatory crazies dangerous to others and themselves.
The film is broken into three segments, all directed by different people but all tied together with the same characters and focused mainly around the main couple, two folks that are a meeting-and-cheating couple (so right away you aren't cheering for them to live).
Within the first segment we get a true classic horror film, similar to the intense moments one would see from such legends as Tobe Hooper, John Carpenter, George Romero, and Wes Craven. The sudden shocks of people slowly snapping mentally after being exposed to the signal was simply brilliant. And the mayhem that follows is some of the best suspense moments never mind horror moments in recent memory. This piece of the film is truly a throwback of the grainy, melancholic, and agitating classics of heyday; basically the type of film Rob Zombie would love to make.
Skipping to the third segment, this again brings back the great heyday of classic horror. This segment does not match up with the first mostly due to the screenwriting, but it is worthy of mentioning as being "well done" horror. Since it ties up the story somewhat, the screenwriting focuses more on this rather than allowing the director the dynamic approach and story flow of the first segment.
The second segment is the problem. Okay, first I'd like to say this was well done all around. The acting was absolutely great, the direction was splendid, and what it was trying to do (horror-comedy) worked. But with all this, suddenly the whole tone of the film changed! The problem is that it just doesn't fit into the bookend segments. And it drags on much too much especially after the kinetic first segment which though no shorter, flew by with its intensity.
So, here is a film that generally is well done, but the "experiment" of three different directors doing three different segments turns a film with potential into a mixed bag. Totally unfortunate. The screenplay seems to have been written for this in mind rather than to produce a flowing, intense, horror film.
For the DVD, all the extras are excellent and are all worth viewing and listening to.
Movie Review: Scary Fun
Summary: 4 Stars
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 ? 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.
Movie Review: 3 ? - Stars: Is This "MAD" TV?
Summary: 3 Stars
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 ? - Stars]
Features:
Making of/ Deleted Scenes/Director'sCommentary/Breakdowns/Interviews and a short film called "Hap Hapgood Story"