The Signal, which opens today in theaters, is an ambitious survival horror film. Written and directed by newcomers David Bruckner, Dan Bush, and Jacob Gentry, and starring a no-name cast, The Signal does a lot of things well, but loses itself in its pointless brutality and aimless plot.
It’s a genre film, so pick your favorite survival horror flick, vary the details a bit and you’ll get a good idea what this one’s about. A handful of protagonists are forced to survive against a sea of people brainwashed into killing each other by "the signal," a mysterious transmission sent through the TV, cell phones, and radios. Once infected, their perceptions are turned against each other and the necessary fake blood splatters at the camera.
The film isn’t entirely run-of-the-mill. Each of the film’s three chapters (or "transmissions") is directed by a different member of the writing trio. The marketing for the film is trying to play this up as an asset. It is not. The first part of the movie sets the stage for some serious survival horror. However, what could have been a decent movie is dropped in the second act to make way for a Shaun of the Dead-style black comedy. Before you can catch your breath, the third act (now survival horror again) wraps up the movie as if M. Night Shyamalan had burst into the theater and shouted "IT’S A TWIST!" at the top of his lungs for the remaining 20 minutes, at which point you’re so confused about what you’ve just witnessed that you just don’t give a shit.
That’s not to say that The Signal is without merit. Of the film’s three leads, two of them are pretty decent, and certainly better than other examples of the genre (*cough* Saw *cough*). I would even credit the film for its good direction, but it’s ultimately style over substance. The film’s slick editing and visual style aren’t enough to save it from a muddy, inconsistent plot.
On top of it all, the film is frustratingly bloody and violent. Before you go and call me a squeamish whiner let me compare it to a movie with a similar level of gore: Hostel. Sure Hostel kinda blew, but at least the splattering blood and guts support the plot. In contrast, The Signal opts for savage disemboweling in lieu of a plot. In fact, it really feels like bad porn. It rips off all its clothes and bangs you for a solid hour while the filmmakers swoop in to see what’s going on under the covers. It’s not sexy. Or even interesting. It’s just boring.
Leave a Reply