Review of The Signal (2007) by Daftkitty — 29 Jun 2008

Something happens when you take a good gore and horror movie "over the top"...it touches comedy. Think about it and it makes sense. Those movies that can tap into this and do it well are rare.

"The Signal" succeeds in so many ways where other movies of this type have failed it is hard to keep track.

This is definitely taut, gory, tension filled horror. This will get under your skin as the social mores are lost to the "signal" which has had an impact on our primitive brain allowing us to find vicious murder not only acceptable, but a curiosity to be examined.

Broken into three acts all directed by different players from the film each part takes on its own special nuance, each to be savored.

Madness is let loose in Terminus and there are few who do not succumb to it. There is nothing spared in the depiction of the carnage and then...we break to laughter.

Some might say that this also breaks the tension or screws up the pacing, but I disagree. This movie was able to achieve this with very little "camp," but real comedic virtue amidst a virtual slaughterhouse. You will cringe and then you will laugh out loud. Not because it is cheesy, but because it actually gets funny and then goes back to horror...and back again. Sometimes it is a nervous laughter that will grip you and sometimes it will be comedy served on a platter.

You won't know whether to hold on tight for fear or tears of gut-busting laughter.

The vacillation between the two genres is so effective and seamless that you really have to see it to appreciate how well it has been done.

I watched this movie on recommendation and I am so glad that I did. It is not high on any "I watched this list" that I have seen so I hope that word of mouth will get it around as this movie is really one that you should not miss if you are a fan of the genre.