...suffers from an increasingly uneven sensibility that ultimately becomes oppressive...
The Signal (2007)
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Reviews Counted:67
Fresh:36
Rotten:31
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: The Signal is gruesome, funny, and has big thoughts about society, but those disparate elements fail to come together convincingly.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong brutal bloody violence throughout, pervasive language and brief nudity.
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:Feb 22, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: Much like 28 DAYS LATER, THE SIGNAL is a zombie film in disguise asking the question, "What would you do if everyone suddenly turned psychotic?" Conceived by Atlanta filmmakers Jacob Gentry, Dan... Much like 28 DAYS LATER, THE SIGNAL is a zombie film in disguise asking the question, "What would you do if everyone suddenly turned psychotic?" Conceived by Atlanta filmmakers Jacob Gentry, Dan Bush, and David Bruckner as an exercise in which each would write and direct one of three acts, the result is an experimental and apocalyptic horror tale with a for-fans-by-fans mentality that is cerebral and visceral, both disturbing and thought-provoking. In the first segment, it is New Year's Eve in the city of Terminus, and Mya (Anessa Ramsey) has just begun an extramarital affair with Ben (Justin Welborn). As she leaves his apartment, he turns on the television to witness a noisy and colorful swirl. The mysterious transmission affects all television, radio, and cell phone signals, causing normal citizens to transform into bloodthirsty killers. By the time Mya reaches her apartment, her building is littered with corpses, and her husband, Lewis (A.J. Bowen), shows the first signs of the condition, causing Mya to flee for safety. Part two is a bleak domestic comedy in which Lewis, searching for his wife, invades the home of a young couple preparing for a party only to kill several potential guests. In the final segment, Ben and Lewis traverse an intensely chaotic landscape in a race to find Mya. With this artful and hard-hitting creation, Gentry, Bush, and Bruckner, have tried to cover all the bases, right down to an amusingly grotesque RE-ANIMATOR homage in the final act. Though clearly a low-budget production (we never see destruction on a very wide scale), the film overcomes such limitations with an intensity that lasts throughout the duration, and the cast of unknowns enhances the creepiness of the proceedings. Right from its opening sequence--a creepy film-within-a-film--THE SIGNAL establishes itself as one for horror aficionados. [More]
Starring: Anessa Ramsey, Sahr, AJ Bowen, Matt Stanton
Starring: Anessa Ramsey, Sahr, AJ Bowen, Matt Stanton, Suehyla El-Attar, Justin Welborn, Cheri Christian
Director: David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry, Dan Bush
Director: David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry, Dan Bush
Screenwriter: David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry, Dan Bush
Producer: Alexander A. Motlagh, Jacob Gentry
Composer: Ben Lovett, Matthew Compton, Paloma Udovic
Studio: Magnolia Pictures
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Reviews for The Signal
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.
The Signal has an incredibly interesting premise, which makes it all the more disappointing that filmmakers David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry, and Dan Bush really have no clue what to do with it.
The film is both an impressive "calling card" work for the filmmakers and a failure as an actual film.
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
Too 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.
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.
You, too, may be feeling violently angry by the time the movie ends. Did the writers-directors sprinkle their reels with the script's airwave-riding rage-ohol? Nope: The Signal just sucks.
It's all screwball fun until someone gets bugsprayed down the throat.
The perversely funny, consistently spooky and pornographically violent The Signal, is the first great cult hit of 2008.
Has a certain gritty punch...but in the end it doesn't amount to much but the usual genre static.
Latest News for The Signal
August 24, 2008:
OtherCool.com: 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. ![]()
More...
February 21, 2008:
Critics Consensus: Cruel to Be Kind, Vantage Has Little Point, Guess Witless Protection's Tomatometer!
This week at the movies, we've got views to a kill, medicated youth, a pair of DIY filmmakers, and Southern justice. What do the critics have to say? More...
February 19, 2008:
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. ![]()
More...
January 14, 2008:
Trailer and trailer review ![]()
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