Review of The Signal (2007) by Jarrett M — 03 Jun 2012

The Signal shows a lot of promise, but never seems to settle on what kind of movie it wants to be, and thus never really succeeds at anything that it does. There are several shifts in tone throughout the film that will make you wonder what exactly you are watching.

Is it horror, sci-fi, drama, comedy, a dark pyschological thriller, or is it some or all of the above? I don't have that answer and I'm not so sure the filmmakers do either. While films can be multi-genre and effective, this one is not.

It lacks any tansion beyond the intitial few minutes and even gets a little tedious through the second and third segment. The performances are acceptable, as is the writing. The makeup was well done to me and looked convincing.

An interesting film in concept, but is ultimately let down in excecution. Watching this kind of felt like an odd mash up of Pontypool and 28 Days Later, both of which were considerably better films. I really can't recommend this to anyone but the diehards of the genre that will watch anything, and those looking to see how good a film can look on a low budget, about $50,000 I've heard.

Then again, there are times when the film does show its low budgetness. I suggest you do plenty of research on this one before seeking it out to see if it still has your interest.