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The Signal (2008)

Old 02-23-08, 07:33 PM
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The Signal (2008)

I can't find another thread about this movie so I had to start one.

The Signal

I just got back from seeing it and i have to say I was surprised by how much I liked it. This movie wasn't even on my radar and from the previews it looked like a cheesy PG-13 version of 28 Days Later. I had zero interest in seeing it until I read the review here at Bloody-Disgusting.com.

I am damn glad I did. Although it had some similarities to "28 Days Latter", this movie basically showed what must have been happening to London while the hero of that movie was in his coma. It was brutal, bloody, tense, and funny in a way horror should be. Now I love Shawn of the Dead but it spawned a lot of comedy horror movies that were pure crap. Signal is how it should be handled. Don't get me wrong, though, this is not a comedy. The director of the middle vinaigrette simply allowed the absurdity of the situation to shine through.

Speaking of the way it's filmed, it's actually broken into three (four if you count the GREAT intro) interlocking stories, each filmed by a different director. I thought it was well done the way they portrayed it. It's been a long time since I've seen a horror movie in the theater I've enjoyed this much. I thought it definitely delivered. Too bad I think the advertising was poorly done and no one will go to see it. There were only 4 people in the entire theater (including my son and I).

I have to wonder if a DVDTalker (and an Otter in particular) had anything to do with writing the movie. I know we have several screen writers here. The single best line delivered in the movie was by a guy going to a New Year's Eve party saying he was going to, "find a slut, and PEE IN HER BUTT."

Last edited by DeputyDave; 02-24-08 at 01:02 AM.
Old 02-23-08, 11:54 PM
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I didn't even know this was out yet. A friend of mine is close friends with one of the directors, and spoke to me a long time ago about working on the film, but I never even looked into it. I know I won't see it in theaters, but maybe I'll be able to catch it on DVD, sounds interesting.
Old 02-24-08, 02:42 AM
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Doesn't look like it'll be in theaters too long, as it bombed really badly in it's per theater average on Friday night. I'd like to check this out before it's gone.
Old 02-24-08, 03:30 AM
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I caught the film in Santa Monica on Friday with a crowd of about ten.

Magnolia was supposed to release this film a year ago (the teaser trailer was attached to The Host), but rights issues came into play and it's a shame the film is getting a very limited release with no publicity at all.

It's a very fun horror film, that's intense and brutal all at the same time. My girlfriend didn't get it that much (she's not into horror at all), but I had a blast with the flick.

I guess I'll have to wait for a DVD release since Vegas won't get it (especially after the poor PSA this weekend).
Old 02-24-08, 08:33 AM
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I happened to be at the Atlanta Comics Expo a couple of weekends ago, and there was a table with actors/actresses from "The Signal", but since it looked like a b-movie production, I sort of just ignored it. Too bad for me, I guess.
Old 02-24-08, 08:55 AM
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Originally Posted by DeputyDave
I have to wonder if a DVDTalker (and an Otter in particular) had anything to do with writing the movie. I know we have several screen writers here. The single best line delivered in the movie was by a guy going to a New Year's Eve party saying he was going to, "find a slut, and PEE IN HER BUTT."
Okay, that's pretty damn funny. We need to find out how that line got in the movie.
Old 02-24-08, 02:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Patman
I happened to be at the Atlanta Comics Expo a couple of weekends ago, and there was a table with actors/actresses from "The Signal", but since it looked like a b-movie production, I sort of just ignored it. Too bad for me, I guess.
The film was done on a very low budget (it was shot on various HD and miniDV cameras -- depending on the director of each "transmission"), but the whole outing looks very professional and top-notch. Imagine 28 Days Later with better cameras on a smaller scale.

Romero should've took a cue from these guys with the shitfest known as last week's Diary of the Dead.
Old 02-24-08, 04:22 PM
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Originally Posted by TomOpus
Okay, that's pretty damn funny. We need to find out how that line got in the movie.
I'll give my friend a call and report back what I find out. That's pretty hilarious.
Old 02-25-08, 07:03 PM
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I just read about this on AICN. If they didn't have a link tothe MSNBC story I wouldn't have believed it. Since I really liked the movie a sick part of me I wonders how this will change it's box office numbers.

Link

Two stabbed at Fullerton theater

FULLERTON: Two men were stabbed and injured Sunday night while watching a horror film at the AMC Theater in Fullerton during what appears to be a random attack, police say.

Shortly before 7:30 p.m., officers were sent to the theater at 1000 S. Lemon St. after someone reported finding a bag with what appeared to be illegal substances, said Fullerton police Lt. Tom Basham.

While the officers were at the theater, people started running out of the theater showing "The Signal," including two men with blood on them, Basham said.

Just before people started running out in a panic, two men sitting in separate areas of the theater were randomly stabbed by an unknown man, Basham said.

"He started stabbing at the theater seat and then he stabbed the victim," Basham said. "As he fled, he stabbed another victim sitting near the exit."

Basham said the victims did not know each other or the suspect.

One man suffered a stab wound to the arm, which punctured into his chest and was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange. The other man was also stabbed in the arm and taken to St. Jude Medical Center. Both are expected to survive.

The attacker, who is believed to have been kicked out of the theater earlier, escaped.

No arrest has been made, but police are following some leads.

"The Signal," a horror-comedy, is told in three parts from three perspectives, in which a mysterious transmission invades every cell phone, radio and TV, turning people into killers. One character estimates that "one out of every two people" are impulsively murdering the other one, according to reviews of the film.

Basham said the film was paused while police conducted their investigation. When it was resumed, the fist scene was a stabbing, he said.
Old 03-18-08, 07:37 AM
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Originally Posted by KingSmoth
I'll give my friend a call and report back what I find out. That's pretty hilarious.
Did your friend say anything?
Old 06-13-08, 08:32 PM
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I bought this as a blind buy, as I'm a sucker for "apocalyptic survival horror" and this had (generally) positive reviews. I was pretty disappointed with it myself. The comedy didn't really work for me and the entire "crazy people acting normal and normal people acting crazy" thing didn't click (IMO). Also, the movie being split into three separate acts killed the momentum. I just didn't really get that into the storyline or characters to really care what happened to them. I guess I prefer the standard "good guys running from the crazies" formula.
Old 06-16-08, 03:40 AM
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Just finished watching this. I really enjoyed it, a very hallucinatory experience. The second vignette ("Transmission 2") went back and forth between hilarious and annoying though. Ultimately though I really enjoyed it. A very different experience.
Old 06-16-08, 09:55 AM
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Saw this last night and for the most part really enjoyed it. The first section reminded me of the pre-credit sequence of Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead - extremely intense and gritty. I found the second sequence very funny and thought it worked perfectly after the unrelenting tension of the first section. Then the third sequence kind of killed it:

Spoiler:
I didn't need to see how Ben got out of the van, especially as slowly as it was done - also didn't really need to go back to the apartment, AGAIN, and see Lewis and Ben fighting.


As someone else mentioned, that killed the momentum. The ending fell into what seems to be the modern horror trap of being too damn clever for its own good and left me kind of hanging.

Overall, I really liked the film but the third act really dragged it down in my opinion. The commentary is well worth a listen and the featurretes on the DVD are worth watching if you enjoy seeing how low budget films get made (like I do!).

I look forward to seeing what these filmakers do in the future.
Old 06-17-08, 12:41 AM
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I purchased the Best Buy two-disc set last week.

The "exclusive" second-disc only contains about 30 minutes of additional material.

Why Magnolia didn't include everything on the single-disc release is beyond me. Especially for a release like this, for a film that barely made $250,000 in it's 111-screen theatrical release.
Old 06-17-08, 11:45 PM
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Original Concept: Check

Awesome opening and midway point: Check

Awesome "over half way through and still kicking ass...regardless of how shitty some of the acting is!!!" comment: Check

Horrible letdown at the 3/4 mark, "Play it safe like all the others so we think we won't mess this up, boy are we getting excited with the hit on our hands!!!!" factor, Dispose of all meaning of the "Signal" and go the drama route because we are suppose to care about people who cheat and this will add a level of hightened sensation/confusion among the target audience of people who trick themselves into buying into this bullshit, slap on a shitty last second beyond fucking ridiculous "moment of clarity" type ending: CHECK

Harry knowles, you don't know shit - mark your own fucking words.

Last edited by Rival11; 06-17-08 at 11:49 PM.
Old 06-29-08, 10:22 PM
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Saw it tonight. I thought it was better than I had expected it would be. Pretty gory, kind of funny, not bad, not bad.

I agree with those who said that the last section brought it straight down, but hey, it was fun while it lasted.

= J
Old 07-24-08, 02:46 AM
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Finally watched this tonight. I had low expectations so I was really surprised by how much I liked it. Watching the characters teetering on the edge of madness was riveting. I don't mind not getting any answers about what the signal was or where it came from--that would have been a very different story. In the story this movie tells, it doesn't matter why it's happening. It's about how it affects these few people.
I found it very scary because you don't know exactly how far gone each of these individuals is and any one of them could flip out at any moment--none of them are reliable. Not to mention the threat from other people they pass on the streets.
Old 07-24-08, 07:58 AM
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I enjoyed the movie as well. There were some strange turn of events that kind of turned me off, but never took me out of the experience. It does kind of bug me that there didn't seem to be any real rules to the "madness", but it did create tension because you never knew who was slipping into dementia and when. Overall, I would definitely recommend it.

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