The Signal is a bizarre and contrasting horror movie that not only mixes genres but financial budgets, it's strange weirdly compelling and ultimately very different from any other horror movie currently doing the rounds.
As The Signal begins I'm strangely reminded of Quentin Tarentino's ... Read review
It's New Year's Eve in the city of Terminus and chaos is this year's resolution. All forms ... more
of communication have been jammed by an enigmatic transmission that preys on fear and desire driving everyone in the city to murder and madness. In a place once marked by conformity but now sent into complete anarchy, the rebellious Ben must save the woman he loves from the bedlam in the streets as well as her crazed sadistic husband. But the only way he can tell who to trust or who has given in to violence is by uncovering the true nature of The Signal.Told in three parts from three unique perspectives by three visionary directors, The Signal was originally conceived as an experimental film project called Exquisite Corpse where one filmmaker would begin a story then hand it off to another filmmaker to continue and then to another and so on until the movie is complete. The story eventually took shape and evolved into a scifi/horror/thriller that imagines a world where everyday anxieties become the catalyst for inhuman terror. The Signal is a horrific journey towards discovering that the most brutal monster might actually be within all of us.
It's New Year's Eve in the city of Terminus and chaos is this year's resolution. All forms ... more
of communication have been jammed by an enigmatic transmission that preys on fear and desire driving everyone in the city to murder and madness. In a place once marked by conformity but now sent into complete anarchy the rebellious Ben must save the woman he loves from the bedlam in the streets as well as her crazed sadistic husband. But the only way he can tell who to trust or who has given in to violence is by uncovering the true nature of The Signal. Told in three parts by three visionary directors The Signal was originally conceived as an experimental film project called Exquisite Corpse where one filmmaker would begin a story then hand it off to another filmmaker to continue and then to another and so on until the movie was complete. The story eventually took shape and evolved into a horror that imagines a world where everyday anxieties become the catalyst for inhuman terror. The Signal is a horrific journey towards discovering that the most brutal monster might actually be within all of us.
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It's New Year's Eve in the city of Terminus and chaos is thisyear's resolution. All forms ... more
of communication have been jammed byan enigmatic transmission that preys on fear and desire drivingeveryone in the city to murder and madness. In a place once markedby conformity but now sent into complete anarchy, the rebelliousBen must save the woman he loves from the bedlam in the streets aswell as her crazed sadistic husband. But the only way he can tellwho to trust or who has given in to violence is by uncovering thetrue nature of The Signal. Told in three parts by three visionary directors, The Signalwas originally conceived as an experimental film project called Exquisite Corpsewhere one filmmaker would begin a storythen hand it off to another filmmaker to continue and then toanother and so on until the movie was complete. The storyeventually took shape and evolved into a horror that imagines aworld where everyday anxieties become the catalyst for inhumanterror. The Signalis a horrific journey towards discoveringthat the most brutal monster might actually be within all ofus.
Advantages: A very different horror movie, with a unique style Disadvantages: The movies budget seems variable, going from high to low budget
The Signal is a bizarre and contrasting horror movie that not only mixes genres but financial budgets, it's strange weirdly compelling and ultimately very different from any other horror movie currently doing the rounds.
As The Signal begins I'm strangely reminded of Quentin Tarentino's Grindhouse movie compendium (Death Proof and Planet Terror) the movie begins with a grainy image filled with watermarks, a typically 70's opening credit ... ...figure looms up and ends the life of the concerned woman. Suddenly the screen distorts and a deafening sound rings out, affecting not the characters in the movie but the viewer. What has just taken place has little impact on the movie but is the beginning of the signal, the signal that turns the lives of the characters in the movie from here on in upside down and inside out.
The Signal is a movie split into three sections, the first ... more
The Signal is a bizarre and contrasting horror movie that not only mixes genres but financial budgets, it's strange weirdly compelling and ultimately very different from any other horror movie currently doing the rounds.
As The Signal begins I'm strangely reminded of Quentin Tarentino's Grindhouse movie compendium (Death Proof and Planet Terror) the movie begins with a grainy image filled with watermarks, a typically 70's opening credit sequence with lurid blood red titles. Behind this entire added ambience we see a woman imprisoned in a log cabin, outside her friend and previous fellow colleague in imprisonment tries to check if a dead woman outside is okay; from nowhere a sinister bespectacled figure looms up and ends the life of the concerned woman. Suddenly the screen distorts and a deafening sound rings out, affecting not the characters in the movie but the viewer. What has just taken place has little impact on the movie but is the beginning of the signal, the signal that turns the lives of the characters in the movie from here on in upside down and inside out.
The Signal is a movie split into three sections, the first section looks at a love story and the arrival of the said signal, both charming and edge of your seat in its suspense portion one looks at an infection sent via a television or mobile phone signal that alters the receiver's view of logical perspective. Next up and a strangely comedic instalment finds a woman and her husband preparing for a New Year's party, the effect of the Signal bringing the characters from story one into this mid section. Then the third portion picks up the love story and the horror of the opening and takes us to a final climax, with an initially disturbing false ending.
What lets The Signal down is the fact that the three pieces of the movie seem to have been assembled by three different budgets; the first section is high budget, the second low budget, while the third uses a medium budget, or this is at least how it looks. The second factor is that with the exception of two of the actors (neither having names that will necessarily inspire you) the remainder of the cast look like cheap extras the sort you might find in many a low budget offering on the Horror channel. Low budget is fine but The Signal is placing itself on a higher plateau its saying I'm every bit as big as Hostel, The Ring, and Silent Hill. With these two points being raised and firmly planted on the table from here on out its all good.
The Signal is somewhat like a zombie movie in the way its disease spreads, the difference being that this time it's mental not anything to do with being dead, the victims of The Signal are one minute fine the next disturbed and maddened by its effects, The Signal giving its recipient often a false sense of perspective, they might look at someone and see somebody very different from who is actually there. For example one of the main characters Lewis (AJ Bowen) looks at Laura (Lindsay Garrett), but does not see Laura he in fact sees his wife Mya (Anessa Ramsey).
The story follows Mya and Ben (Justin Welborn) a couple having an affair who desperately wants to be together, these is where the love story comes from. And the movies main mission other than to tell you about the dangers of all the signals being sent around the world, is effectively this love story as Mya and Ben separated at the start of the movie fight desperately to be reunited as the world around them goes mad and tries to kill each other.
Blood and gore is fairly low level although there is a rather striking decapitation a third of the way through the movie. The horror of The Signal being more suggested than visceral, there is no need for gore when you can mentally disturb your audience, and I personally believe those less familiar with the world of horror movies might just find the Signal itself disturbing enough.
Our two main leads in the form of Welborn (Ben) and Ramsey (Mya) do an okay job, they hold it together fine; granted these are not and are unlikely to be big league players but they look reasonable. Both seem well matched nothing more annoying in a cheaper movie than a couple who obviously don't look like a couple, these do so the casting crew have done a good job. In fact the flaws really that you have for the two are scripted issues, Mya while the world is being slaughtered around her has this habit of walking around with headphones on playing loud music, I mean if over half the people you encounter are going to be vicious killers the last thing you want to be doing is creating a noise block between you and a potential killer. After starting strong, the scrip kind of peters out for Ben, going from being strong to underdog then strong again to a certain level.
Flaws and positive issue balanced I would watch The Signal again; it's the first really unique looking horror movie from US shores I have seen for a good while (I have seen other good US horror's recently but they play with old ideas) The Signal is very different, if you can deal with the old spiralling budget, or at least that's how it appears, you might just enjoy this.
The Signal has recently screened at a couple of UK festivals, the producers are trying to gauge audience reaction to decide how to release the movie UK wide, if a full launch is not achieved the movie gets a DVD release on 13th November.
...assumed it would go down the same line as many other horror movies- lots of gore and not much story.
However I was really pleasantly surprised! Not only is there realistic gore, grittiness and tension, but the story backs up all the effects to make this a great independent movie.
Furthermore, the subtle humour which runs throughout this movie had me howling out loud. It adds another dimension that makes you want to watch this film again and again. ... ...in that three different directors (David Bruckner, Dan Bush, and Jacob Gentry) tell the story in three different parts, and yet the film runs seamlessly from one bit to the next. I would definitely recommend this film. Just make sure you don't watch it on your own! ...
k8_web 25.06.2008
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Advantages: Typical Whedon brilliance, suitable for newcomers Disadvantages: Terrible DVD artwork.
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they?ve got a whole lot of Opera Phantoms together to just jam in their miserable moody way for an hour and half. It never repeated itself and even when it seemed like it wouldn?t be what you?d expect for a particular scene it always worked. You could listen to the music to this film on it?s own it was that good.
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Take a look at the pictures and you'll see the first ever bat signal
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Advantages: Feel-good drama, well-executed idea, the DVD has extras that enhance enjoyment of the film Disadvantages: The audio commentary is not mentioned on the box
, while the sport of Baseball is also used in both Field Of Dreams and Frequency to underscore the narrative structure.
Essentially, however, the Baseball theme is just so much trimming on a cracking storyline and concept...don't be put off by it. What Hoblitt and writer Toby Emmerich have constructed here is a multi-layered drama based on scientifically sound (but unlikely) phenomena.
Once every 11 years or so, the Sun's activity creates a disturbance in the magnetic fields surrounding earth...and the result is known as the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights. As a consequence, certain radio frequencies briefly become able to pick up signals much further away than normal. How far, though? One occurence (discussed on the DVD's Documentary) apparently transcended time itself, the recieved signal having been transmitted 10 years ...
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Languages
Main Language
English
Technical information
Aspect Ratio
16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital
Special Features
Commentary, Featurettes, Deleted Material, Lost Transmissions, Trailers, Short Film
Professional reviews
Review
[Bruckner's] section is superb, with affecting performances, a sense of dread reminiscent of John Carpenter's 'Prince of Darkness' and many striking images (New York Times, 19/02/2009)
DVD Description
Three indie directors join forces for this creepy horror film about media gone awry. A strange signal has taken over the airwaves and phone lines, and its influence causes violence and mayhem for those who experience it.
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