It doesn't take long for the The Signal's promising beginning to fade into a haze that leaves the viewer exhausted and irritated.
The Signal (2007)
Tomatometer
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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
...brings new blood to the horror genre, but in the end, one vision may have served the material better than three.
An outright horror film that nonetheless veers on occasion into surreal black comedy, The Signal takes Marshall McLuhan's famous statement 'the medium is the message' to extremes not explored since David Cronenberg's Videodrome in 1983.
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.
This is basically a David Cronenberg concept dumbed down to a bunch of sadistic jokes, lacking any of the master's humane poignancy.
With just one compelling sequence emerging from so many filmmakers' efforts, The Signal is decidedly less than the sum of its parts.
This three-part horror movie directed by a trio of Atlanta filmmakers is set during the collapse of Terminus, a fictional city whose citizens are being driven to rage.
A slasher fest that references such predecessors as George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead and Pulse, a 2001 chiller by Japan's talented Kiyoshi Kurosawa, while still remaining original.
Ultimately, The Signal doesn't rewrite the rules of horror, the way those masters did. But its filmmakers do provide a creepy, bloody good show.
The film suffers slightly from diminishing returns -- its first third is by far its scariest -- but it's still a bold, artful take on a popular horror idea.
A botched sci-fi story about the horror that erupts when televisions suddenly start emitting signals that turn folks into maniacs (maybe we should have gone with Toshiba).
You will definitely appreciate this film's ambition, if not its execution.
I really enjoyed the first hour or so of The Signal, but, whereas a movie can overcome a bad start, it's tough to overcome a bad ending.
The filmmakers' team effort gives off strong echoes of Stephen King's Cell, David Cronenberg's They Came From Within, George Romero's The Crazies, Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later.
A startlingly original, smart indie film that so effortlessly mixes high-caliber gore, suspense and shocking violence with vaudevillian hilarity, it's clearly animated by the spirit of the classic Re-Animator films.
...a film-school genre exercise more than anything else; and being hyperbolically bloody in a very familiar way, it just isn't scary.
It hardly matters that The Signal is deeply flawed. This one has cult favorite stamped all over it.
For many fans of the genre, the success of the first act and the ambition of the entire concept will be more than enough to make them fans of The Signal.
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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