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Wednesday, June 11, 2008

"The Signal" review

The Signal (2007)

Directors: David Bruckner Dan Bush Jacob Gentry
Writers: David Bruckner Jacob Gentry Dan Bush

Anessa Ramsey ... Mya Denton
Sahr Ngaujah ... Rod (as Sahr Nguajah)
AJ Bowen ... Lewis Denton
Matthew Stanton ... Jerry (as Matt Stanton)
Suehyla El-Attar ... Janice
Justin Welborn... Ben Capstone
Cheri Christian ... Anna


A woman tries to escape her psychotic husband and is pursued throughout the city by him and her lover. The story is told in three parts with each having a different tone for the signal induced mayhem. The movie starts off with her running for her life from many “crazy” people. Then the movie shifts gears into an apartment where a party was going to be held but was ruined by all the mass murdering shenanigans going on. The last part leads up to the final showdown to see who the signal will destroy.“The Signal” is about the end of the world. It all starts with a sleazy B-movie playing on TV which emits homicidal signals into people’s minds to kill, kill, kill! I always knew these movies would destroy all life on Earth someday. Their power cannot be underestimated. Soon the signals start emitting from every electronic device, (phones, radios, etc), just in case some people don’t watch B-movies.

The signal affects some people differently than others. Most give into their rage and paranoia while others try to hold onto their sanity. “The Signal” leaves you with a few questions. Like how can you live in a media saturated world and not go insane? What possible escape is there from the signal when we rely on electronic devices for everything we do? And why did it take three directors to make this movie?

I’m not sure of the back story behind “The Signal” but there must be a good reason, (I hope), that this movie needed three directors. In any other movie having multiple directors is the sign that the film has spun out of control and something is rotten. But “The Signal” does this deliberately although how it really benefited the movie I can’t be completely sure. The first part plays as a straight horror film which keeps zipping right along. Then the movie morphs into a gory comedy in the second section as the violence starts getting played for laughs, (Bug spray in the eyes? HAHAHA!). The final section teeters back and forth between horror and laughs with plenty of bloody scenes.

I found the changing tones effect to be a little jarring but it actually works well with this kind of movie. “The Signal” tries to keep an atmosphere of signal induced madness alive and it succeeds. Each section shifts focus onto another character and the tone changes with them. I had a good time keeping up with the crazies. It’s worth checking out.
SCORE: 3 out of 4 signals

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