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“A horror film’s job is to scare you, is to get your pulse going, is to make you scream and yell. It’s to make you be afraid. That’s its main purpose, and creeping you out. And that can be an enjoyable experience.” --- John Carpenter ::::::::::::: MY CRITERIA FOR DISCUSSION ENCOMPASSES THE HORROR GENRE AND BEYOND, SO I USE THE TERM "NIGHTMARE MOVIES". SPOILERS CAN OCCUR WITH OR WITHOUT WARNING. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

The Signal

March 31st 2009 01:57
The Signal movie poster
The Signal (2007) takes risks, The Signal pushes boundaries, The Signal takes no prisoners. The Signal is what guerrilla filmmaking is all about. I don’t think it’s an amazing movie, but it’s a damn sight better than most of the other straight-to-DVD crap that gets jazzed-up cover art and some inane quote full of superlatives from one of the hundreds, if not thousands, of movie review sites fancying itself as the shiznit.

The Signal works as a narrative triptych, think Doug Liman’s Go, but as a horror movie; three narrative perspectives broken into segments, slightly overlapping each other. The story segments are headed as “transmissions”, as the premise of this apocalyptic renegade of a movie is that a mysterious and very malevolent electronic signal is being transmitted through every television, radio and telephone (including mobiles and GPS), and it’s driving people crazy, turning them into irrational and delusional freakazoids hellbent on attacking and killing anyone they come across. Sound familiar? Yes, it is similar to Stephen King’s recent novel, Cell (supposedly to be adapted and directed by Eli Roth), but this is also a new twist on Romero’s zombie/crazies concept, and as a movie it works very well.
The Signal Anessa Ramsey
Anessa Ramsey as Mya
The three transmissions (“Crazy in Love”, “The Jealousy Monster” and “Escape from Terminus”) centre around four main characters, with a bunch of peripheral characters that float around the main action. Mya (Anessa Ramsey) is married to Lewis (AJ Bowen), but is having an affair with Ben (Justin Welborn). After the signal first starts broadcasting, Mya leaves Ben’s apartment to return to Lewis’s apartment where chaos has broken out. Inside the apartment Lewis is uptight. His mates Jerry (Matthew Stanton) and Rod (Sahr Ngaujah) tease him. Lewis is suspicious of Mya’s activities. Violence erupts and suddenly it’s every man and woman for themselves.
The Signal Justin Welborn
Justin Welborn as Ben
Mya escapes the bloody carnage with Rod but is separated, and decides to head to the city train station. Lewis is in hot pursuit, but is sidetracked and ends up at the home of Ken (Christopher Thomas) and Anna (Cheri Christian). Clark (Scott Polythress) is already there, trying to talk sense into Anna. Further craziness and extreme violence ensues. Ben arrives on the scene in an effort to find Mya.
The Signal Cheri Christian and Scott Polythress
Cheri Christian as Anna and Scott Polythress as Clark
There is an anarchic element to The Signal that captures the movie’s prevalent themes of paranoia and betrayal brilliantly. There’s also a streak of black comedy coursing through, but is brought to the surface to bubble incessantly during the second transimission; “The Jealously Monster, wherein Lewis is convinced everyone but himself knows where Mya is, and they’re all colluding against him. AJ Bowen channels Bruce Campbell during this sequence to much dark hilarity.
The Signal Christopher Thomas
Christopher Thomas as Ken
Directors David Bruckner, Dan Bush, Jacob Gentry each write and helm a segment. While one was directing, another was camera-operating, and the third was rehearsing and blocking actors for another segment. All three edited the movie as well. These guys have real chutzpah and the movie reflects it. It’s low-budget, but the production values work around the budgetary limitations with tenacious ingenuity. The special effects are effective, the camerawork fluid, the acting solid (watch for Chad McKnight as party guest arrival Jim Parsons, a scene-stealer).
The Signal Scott Polythress and AJ Bowen
AJ Bowen as Lewis with a bewildered Clark
The Signal is a nightmare scenario, both in concept, but also in the visual style. Each transmission segment’s main perspective (ie character) is subjected to hallucination or a fantasy vision, thus rendering what the audience sees as unreliable. It fuels the movie’s atmosphere of insanity and enhances the dangerous mood to palpable levels, so by movie’s end, when critical mass is reached and the final confrontation has butted heads, the audience doesn’t know who to trust or believe. Has the psychic pollution of the deadly signal actually managed to prevail??
The Signal Chad McKnight
Chad McKnight as Jim
The more I write about it the more the movie grows on me ... like a tumor. The Signal burns itself onto the retina of the mind like any good instant cult movie.
The Signal severed head
Trying to jack-start a severed head to life could be a problem

The Signal DVD cover


Here's the trailer:


The Signal DVD, with juicy extras, is courtesy of Madman Entertainment, many thanks!

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews
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7 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Damo

March 31st 2009 06:46
Now this looks like twisted fun

Comment by Matt Shea

March 31st 2009 09:36


20/20 Filmsight
Great review Bryn. This does indeed look like a bit of a hoot - it's good to see a bunch of chaps trying something a little different with the genre and eschewing the lacklustre stuff that's been released recently.

Comment by Bryn

April 1st 2009 00:05


Horrorphile
Matt, indeed, I was pleasantly surprised. Some great making of extras on the DVD too, especially since the guys are relatively young.

Comment by JohnDoe

April 20th 2009 16:20


Film & TV on DVD
This one has been on my must see list for sometime now with a lot of positive buzz making its way to me.

I have avoided reading any review for it because i don't want to spoil what many claim is a premise right up my twisted alleyway.

Your first paragraph sold me, and again I find myself anxious for a screening

Comment by Bryn

April 21st 2009 02:45


Horrorphile
JD, yeah, you'll dig this one with a shovel fer sure ...

Comment by Norm

August 11th 2009 23:55


Consumption Malfunction
Equal and Opposite
Arses and Elbows
Footy Power
I can't speak highly enough about this movie.
Somebody stole my ladder.
I loved it.


Comment by Bryn

August 12th 2009 00:08


Horrorphile
Norm, yes, great indie filmmaking.

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