"The Signal" starts off like a straightforward horror film on the order of "Night of the Living Dead" or "28 Days Later," but about a third of the way through, it turns into a tongue-in-cheek parody of the whole apocalyptic-thriller genre.
It's New Year's Eve, and a mysterious, hypnotic signal is being broadcast on TVs and radios across the planet, resulting in a mass psychosis that turns ordinary, average citizens into cold-blooded killers.
This is a fun, good-natured spoof that is as creepy as it is amusing, at least up to a point. That point is passed a few times when the movie turns a little more gruesome and sadistic than it really needs to be. Yet, despite having to work with an extremely low budget, directors David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry and Dan Bush do an effective job creating a post-apocalyptic atmosphere, while the script, co-written by all three men, employs a canny combination of flashbacks and fantasy sequences as part of the narrative.
A spirited and unnerving parable about urban paranoia, "The Signal" should delight fans of offbeat horror.
It's New Year's Eve, and a mysterious, hypnotic signal is being broadcast on TVs and radios across the planet, resulting in a mass psychosis that turns ordinary, average citizens into cold-blooded killers.
This is a fun, good-natured spoof that is as creepy as it is amusing, at least up to a point. That point is passed a few times when the movie turns a little more gruesome and sadistic than it really needs to be. Yet, despite having to work with an extremely low budget, directors David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry and Dan Bush do an effective job creating a post-apocalyptic atmosphere, while the script, co-written by all three men, employs a canny combination of flashbacks and fantasy sequences as part of the narrative.
A spirited and unnerving parable about urban paranoia, "The Signal" should delight fans of offbeat horror.