Signal, The (2007)
Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

The Signal is a horrific journey towards discovering that the most brutal monster might actually be within each of us. A sci-fi/horror/thriller that imagines a world where everyday anxieties become the catalyst for inhuman terror. All forms of communication have been jammed by a mysterious transmission that preys on fear and desire driving everyone in the city to murder and madness.

A solid horror movie. It has all the ingredients of an instant horror classic and never gets cliché. The first and last segment feel very similar but only because the middle (funny chapter) is starkly different. This just makes for a movie that ends where the audience was first captured, which is great!

Storyline: A horror film told in three parts, from three perspectives, in which a mysterious transmission that turns people into killers invades every cell phone, radio, and television.

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov, November 26, 2008 -- A low-budget gore fiesta blending horror with humor, "The Signal" (2006) is not for the meek. Divided into three acts, each with a flavor of its own, pic offers some stylish visuals. It is, however, far from being a satisfying exploration of The End. Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. Region-Free. Mya (Anessa Ramsey), a beautiful young girl, and her lover Ben (Justin Welborn) are asleep. A TV set is placed in front of their bed. The screen suddenly lights up and a strange collage of colorful jitters appears. Ben wakes up and looks at the TV screen. Mya also wakes up and quickly realizes that it is late; she should have called her husband a long time ago. She leaves Ben staring at the TV screen. At home Mya is greeted by her husband Lewis (AJ Bowen) and his friends who have come over to watch a ball game. Unfortunately, annoying jitters have cut off the game. Lewis follows Mya in their bedroom and asks why she is late. Mya tells him that she has been out having drinks with one of her girlfriends. Lewis looks at her and heads back to his friends. Minutes later he breaks his friend's skull with a baseball bat.

I don't typically follow the horror genre closely but I keep track of what energizes its dedicated fan base. And for some time now I've noticed that it have been mostly Gallic productions that online publications and dedicated horror forums have been buzzing about - from Haute Tension (2003), to À l'intérieur (2007), to Frontière(s) (2007), to the much anticipated in the US Martyrs (2008). Is there a particular reason why?

Yes, recent French horror films have effectively raised the bar in a number of areas where horror films typically fail to impress – strong storytelling, shocking visuals, and solid acting. In each of these three areas the films mentioned above have more or less excelled and given serious horror fans a reason to like them.

But what does all this have to do with David Bruckner and Dan Bush's The Signal? Well, a lot more than you could imagine. Like some of the films mentioned earlier, The Signal is a low-budget production with plenty of notable influences (the strongest one being Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later). It is also a film that does not shy away from showing graphic violence in a manner, I think, is comparable to what modern French horror favors.

So, is The Signal as good as Haute Tension, À l'intérieur, and Frontière(s)? Unfortunately, it is not. In fact, it is not even close to being a convincing horror film to begin with. There are a number of reasons why, but the most obvious one, which I believe will turn off many hardcore fans of the genre, is that the The Signal seems quite undecided as to whether it wants to be a straightforward horror production, or a very dark comedy with the occasional splashes of red paint. As a result, the film never really gets off the ground with the proper energy strong horror cinema demands.

From a purely technical point of view, however, it is probably a bit easier to defend The Signal. The camerawork is mostly convincing and adequately sustaining the claustrophobic feeling the two directors introduce in the opening 15-20 minutes. The episodic structure the film follows also adds an extra dose of flavor to the horrors seen on the screen. It also effectively grants the viewers with alternative points of view at an apparent pandemic where violence has brought the end of the world.

Yet, in the larger scheme of things, what matters the most, the actual story, isn't as convincing as it could have been. After a tremendous build-up The Signal suddenly stops and due to an unknown to me reason begins to satirize everything it has been vehemently glorifying. It is a missed opportunity, indeed, as prior to the second episode in The Signal the story was not only terrifying but rather impressively told as well.

One really has to love the genre The Signal champions to successfully endure the enormous amount of pointless violence the film harbors. This is certainly extreme cinema meant for a niche audience with very a specific understanding about what the term entertainment entails. I clearly do not belong to the above mentioned group of aficionados. I could barely stomach the gore, and after The Signal ended it took me a good couple of hours before I felt that it was safe to grab a bite to eat. Proceed with caution.

User Comment: AvidHorrorFan from Herts, England, 24 August 2007 • From time to time, I stumble across movies that I know nothing about, and under normal circumstances probably wouldn't be that inclined to see. Even as an avid horror buff, low budget titles like this tend to slip through the net usually simply due to their lack of big name distribution.

Let's hope that with "The Signal" however, this doesn't happen.

Why? Because this movie is powerful, thoughtful and downright terrifying in its execution.

The movie opens with a young couple, Mya and Ben, in a tryst where it soon becomes apparent that Mya is married but very much not in love with her husband, Lewis.

Suddenly the TV is blasted on, transmitting a noisy psychedelic signal which is echoed throughout every other media form from radio to mobile phones.

Mya leaves Ben to return home to her husband only to find everyone going crazy... possibly even her own husband. Thrown into a violent and chaotic world, the story focuses on the three of them and the truth about their intertwining relationship as the city of Terminus literally goes to hell around them.

The film's three directors each take on board a different aspect of the overlapping narrative, with the running time evenly divided into 3 parts. Transmission 1 examines the initial outbreak and its effects on the main protagonists. Transmission 2 looks at the ensuing madness from the perspective of one of the afflicted (a very creepy concept which is notoriously tough to execute, but is worked to almost perfection here), and laces it with more than just a smattering of very black humour. Transmission 3 ties up the loose ends of the plot and weaves them all together in order that all main characters collide in a chaotic but much needed denouement.

Brutal, dark and completely absorbing, this grainy DV effort is always believable and therein lies its power. In a society where media has taken over every facet of our lives, technology is rife for abuse, and this movie exploits that paranoia to great dividends.

This original chiller is the American equivalent of "28 Days Later" mixed with Romero's "The Crazies" via Stephen King's novel "Cell".

Some visual and plot aspects may have suffered due to budgetary constraints, but therein also lies its charm.

"The Signal" will surprise, thrill and terrify. In short, another example of modern horror at its brutal and most thoughtful best.

Summary: 21st Century paranoia horror at its very best...

º º