Movies: The Signal

"The Signal" is a horror film directed by David Bruckner, Dan Bush, and Jacob Gentry. It's about a signal that is broadcast one day that causes people to behave irrationally...sometimes murderously so:



"The Signal" is split into three parts. The premise, characters, and plot of each part are continuous, but the tone is not, since each part has a different director. The first is more or less straight horror, the second is an earnest attempt at black comedy, and the third has an adventure movie/romance type of feel. It's an interesting concept, though the actual idea of a malevolent signal crashing society has been seen before ("Pulse" comes immediately to mind, as does "Cell" and even "The Crazies").

I suppose I wanted to like the movie (the premise is suitably post-apocalyptic, which is right up my alley), but the tonal changes are so abrupt that it's hard not to be reminded of superior films. George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead," for instance, mixed black comedy, social commentary, and horror, without the clumsy breaks that "The Signal" relies upon. I like paranoia and gore as much as the next fellow, but not enough to excuse a flimsy plot.

Rating: 4/10