| The Signal - 4/10 A paying customer, tired of the usual mainstream crap, would and should be encouraged to seek something new, something fresh than what they have been offered. That doesn't mean, however, that because a concept is original it won't face problems. And The Signal, a triptych tale involving a mind altering/frying transmission which turns regular people into killers, has problems. It's an interesting idea -- watch how one's perception of reality is kept normal through a mellow shoegazer CD -- but it's very amateurish in acting and editing (sloppy transitions). Most of all -- and this is thanks to the rather weird second "transmission" (or, story) -- there is a level of humor that comes halfway through, jars the viewer, and exits stage left, leaving one to forget to take anything else seriously. Do you know the closest approximation I can give? Imagine the fake trailers from Grindhouse, mostly Edgar Wright's classic "Don't" and this is what The Signal reminded me of, for ninety minutes of time I could've really spent elsewhere. I did like how the use of a CD player tied into the last shot, but it's ruined by three nascent filmmakers who, while showing great debt to the grisly chop-shop slasher films of what appears to be their charmed youth, are stymied by lack of talent. If you want to be a comedian, be a comedian, if you want to scare people, do it successfully. Again, I have to mention Edgar Wright, whose Shaun of the Dead worked magnificently (by comparison). |