The Signal (2007)
Average Rating: 5.8/10
Reviews Counted: 69
Fresh: 39 | Rotten: 30
The Signal is gruesome, funny, and has big thoughts about society, but those disparate elements fail to come together convincingly.
Average Rating: 6/10
Critic Reviews: 18
Fresh: 11 | Rotten: 7
The Signal is gruesome, funny, and has big thoughts about society, but those disparate elements fail to come together convincingly.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 9,272
My Rating
Movie Info
As glasses are raised for a New Year's Eve toast, the denizens of the city of Terminus fall prey to a mysterious transmission that pulses through all electronic devices and transforms rational, sane people into murderous, rampaging psychopaths. All forms of communication have been jammed, and now the airwaves have been saturated with an ominous signal that preys on fear and deep-rooted desire. Though Terminus was once a city defined by conformity, any semblance of order in this concrete jungle
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Cast
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AJ Bowen
Lewis Denton -
Anessa Ramsey
Mya -
Justin Welborn
Ben Capstone -
Scott Poythress
Clark -
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Suehyla El-Attar
Janice -
Cheri Christian
Anna -
Matt Stenton
Jerry -
Lindsey Garrett
Laura -
Chadrian Morris
Jim Parsons -
Chad McKnight
Jim Parsons -
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The Signal Trailer & Photos
All Critics (69) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (41) | Rotten (31) | DVD (3)
[A] cagey low-budget horror flick.
Top CriticToo fuzzy and indistinct to work on either a literal or a metaphoric level, The Signal nonetheless pulses with enough random static to hold viewers' attention.
It doesn't take long for the The Signal's promising beginning to fade into a haze that leaves the viewer exhausted and irritated.
None of the rabbit holes in The Signal go that deep. But you do leave persuaded that you've discovered some talented people.
A movie that explores the common ground between visceral horror and sketch comedy, and finds plenty of it.
The Signal is electrifying, deliciously mad and twisted filmmaking. It's certainly not for everyone, but chances are it will inspire many.
...suffers from an increasingly uneven sensibility that ultimately becomes oppressive...
Funny, terrifying and haunting all at once, this tripartite vision of postmodern alienation, societal breakdown and mental disintegration is as arresting as a baseball bat to the head - while still cutting to the heart.
Esforçando-se ao máximo para alcançar o equilíbrio entre gore e paródia que transformou Uma Noite Alucinante em cult, esta bomba torna-se risível apenas pela incompetência generalizada com que foi realizada.
It's definitely an interesting premise and the three filmmakers almost pull it off, but the last ten minutes were a bit of a disappointment to me.
This is much more than a typical genre piece; it's a sort of hip, almost punk, combination of drama, science-fiction and horror.
Bloody, hallucinatory horror movie isn't for kids.
A bloody banquet of excessive, tasteless gore, but with an odd infusion of unsavory humor that never meshes with the horror. Think fatal car crash with a laugh track.
The film is both an impressive "calling card" work for the filmmakers and a failure as an actual film.
(The filmmakers), taken with the way in which humans act with their world wide wired habitat, never lets the populace off the hook. In The Signal, we are responsible for our technological addiction, and the fatal results of same.
A bloody banquet of excessive, tasteless gore, but with an odd infusion of unsavory humor that never meshes with the horror. Think fatal car crash with a laugh track.
All I kept writing down in my notes during the movie was "gruesome" "I can't breathe" "My stomach is in knots."
In the end THE SIGNAL will burn it's transmission into your brain and leave you with an impression that will never go away. This is that film that leaves you with that special glow (yes, kind of like after sex), the smile that doesn't fade and the convers
For a soup overseen by three cooks, the whole works reasonably well, with some pretty complex interlocking, A must for fans of nonlinear storytelling.
tone shifts awkwardly to a Shaun of the Dead-meets-Fido-style satirical commentary on domestic life
The Signal reveals killer horrors skills on the part of Bruckner, and to a lesser extent of Gentry and Bush. So if you don't mind a film that starts strong and finishes weak, check it out.
It's a pity that the film isn't a little bit better, to really do the concept justice. It's not a bad movie...but it's not at all good in the ways that you'd hope.
Audience Reviews for The Signal
Super Reviewer
Sometimes seeing the signal makes you crazy...sometimes it doesn't.
Sometimes people die from multiple blows to the head...sometimes they don't. Sometimes the entire world (or at least city) is consumed by the madness...other times people don't seem to understand that their is utter anarchy in the streets. Sometimes a canister of pesticide will make you blind, other times it just makes your eyes sting for a moment or two. Sometimes it's a comedy, sometimes its a drama and other times it's a horror flick.
The constantly shifting perspective completely kills all attempts to build tension and the characters are all down right stupid. Why am I supposed to care about a bunch of adolescent adults acting like children? The female love interest in particular is the worst kind of heroine cliche.
Now I will give the filmmakers props for making a movie that looks descent in 13 days for $50k, but SHAME on them for going forward with this script. The Signal could have been really good, but instead it just ends up becoming a crapticopia of tedious nonsense.
Super Reviewer
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Latest News on The Signal
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January 23, 2007:
Sundance News: "Son of Rambow" Is Fest's Biggest Sale; "How She Move," "The Signal," Others Also AcquiredParamount Vantage snagged "Son of Rambow" for $7 million, making it the biggest Sundance...
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