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Indie horror film out of Atlanta about the plight of a group of people living in the in the city of Terminus. On New Years Eve, a signal begins mysteriously transmitting through televisions, phones and radio. This signal preys on a person’s fears and anyone who watches or listens to it is turned into a cold-blooded killer. The film follows Mya (Anessa Ramsey), who is having an affair with Ben (Justin Welborn). After one of her trysts with Ben, a night she was supposed to be drinking with the girls, Mya returns home to her extremely suspicious husband, Lewis (AJ Bowen). Before she has time to worry about her husband realizing something is going on, all hell begins to break loose. The rest of The Signal is three separate chapters filmed by three separate directors, detailing Ben trying to find Mya in the aftermath, while dealing the cities remaining afflicted. One of those include Mya’s husband, Lewis. Let’s take a look at the trailer with my expert thoughts on the movie after the jump.

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David Bruckner directs the first “Transmission 1: Crazy in Love” in which we see the beginnings of the strange phenomena that has citizens committing acts of brutal, calculated murder against their fellow humans. No 28 Days later or Dawn of the Dead stuff. These people can talk, think, react. The source seems to be coming from a strange signal being broadcast via the tv, radio or phone. Anyone exposed to this signal for a prolonged amount of time, will basically have their brains re-wired and simply think that killing whoever is near them is not only a good thing to do, it is the RIGHT thing to do. This beginning chapter is done to great effect with the ominous signs of something quite not right at the beginning, followed by the terror of witnessing the full-fledged effects inside an apartment building. This chapter is filmed from Mya’s perspective so the viewer remains as confused, scared, horrified as she does as she witnesses the beginning of the signal’s effects. This includes her jealous, possessive husband Lewis.

Jacob Gentry directs the second chapter titled “Transmission 2: The Jealousy Monster” and instead of going for the pure horror of the first chapter, goes with dark humor. Very Shaun of the Dead-ish and very reminiscent of another dark comedy, Murder Party. This chapter has us locked in a house of a couple who had been planning a New Year’s Eve party before the shit hit the fan. With them is their landlord, Clark (Scott Poythress), and eventually Lewis himself. While total anarchy outside goes on, we watch to pretty decent comedic effect, as these people attempt to “wait it out” and stay hidden from the dangers outside while dealing with a couple of people who come knocking on the door. It is in this chapter that Bowen and Poythress truly shine. Poythress switching between emotions with ease, and Bowen becoming the highlight of the film as a crazy person who does not know that they are crazy. Even though it took me a second to switch gears to this type of humor after the tone of the first chapter, it was a brief transition and before long I was enjoying the ride all the way to the finish line, when Lewis finally wears out his welcome.

Dan Bush finishes things off with the last chapter titled “Transmission 3: Escape from Terminus“. This portion picks up the torch from the first chapters horror element and doesn’t look back. This chapter is the most brutal of the three as Ben and Clark are on the run from Lewis and headed to the location they think Mya may be. This chapter displays the movies best gore effects in the form of a talking, smoking, decapitated head as well as a nice head-beating via pesticide sprayer container that is very reminiscent of the never-before-topped fire extinguisher death in the film Irreversible. This section is shot as a pure horror film that concludes (in a somewhat anti-climatic fashion) with the final showdown between Lewis and Ben, as well as dealing with the love-triangle that these three individuals have found themselves in.

The Signal could very well end up being some sort of cult classic in days to come. It has all the earmarks of one. Memorable scenes, a few over-the-top gore shots, pitch-black humor, a cautionary tell on the dangers of our dependence on electronic communication. It helps that the film avoids the pratfalls usually prominent horror films by avoiding the cheap scare, or the industrial music laden action scene. The fact that each different chapter are not only linked by the characters within them, but also by small flashbacks ala Pulp Fiction, make the film seem as smart as the creators think it is. The gritty, digital look of the film also compliments the scenes that are being displayed as the society outside falls into anarchy. The creators also do a good job of just creeping out the viewer in not only the tone of certain scenes, but also in the way they attempt to get you into the head of a person afflicted with “the crazy”. A handful of scenes are shot so that you see what someone scrambled by the signal is seeing and hearing. It does an excellent job in helping you understand why these people are doing what they are doing while helping hammer home the terrifying, unfair realization of it all. It also helps in blurring the line between someone who is crazy as a direct result of the signal, or just someone who went crazy because of all the mayhem, and in the end asks if there is really a difference.

The Signal is another film that I knew jack-shit about aside from seeing the poster a while back. But even had I known all about it beforehand, my view of the film would not change. I really recommend this film to anyone who enjoys indie-horror or indie films of any type to see what can be done with a meager budget (rumored to be 50,000) and a completely amateur cast. The Signal may borrow elements from other films, but does a great job of creating a film that stands on it’s own and is definitely worth a watch.

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