The Signal

"The Signal" is more horror film than sci-fi. It's about three people trapped in a threatening environment they do not understand. It is also about reality, and how our concept of it can easily be shaken by unexpected circumstances that are inconsistent with our past experiences and perceptions. In the early portion of the film there is a brief reference to Philip Dick, the master of reality tales, and to his book "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep," which became the basis for the film "Blade Runner." Later references capture some of the mystique of "The Matrix" and also an often overlooked film from 1997, "The Cube."

Comments posted here about "The Signal" seem to be sharply divided: viewers seem to either hate it or love it. The displeasure is easy to understand. Those who expected a sci-fi story with a lot of techno-gadgets and special effects are likely to be disappointed. The same applies to those who are uncomfortable with the concept of victimization, a common basis for horror films and a key element in "The Signal." But those who like to read Philip Dick or who enjoyed "The Cube" will find much to admire in this film, a low budget effort with a smart script.

The 'movie-snob' reviews almost kept me from watching this movie -- I'm glad I didn't listen to them. This was one of the most suspenseful movies I have seen in a long time. At one point I paused the movie to check outside because I thought I heard something -- the movie had me spooked and it takes a lot to get that kind of reaction out of me. There was an eerie feel that stayed with me through the entire movie and it had me guessing the entire time.

The movie could have been better -- there is an attempt to show some spiritual triumph for the main character and a love story that doesn't work, but the suspense and sci-fi elements alone make the movie a solid B and worth seeing.

Here is another low budget movie that seems ultimately to have been made to ornament one or two fairly lavish setpieces. see for example skinwalker ranch and the banshee chapter which without one or two meretricious moments would not amount to much at all. and of course it is always hard to criticise low budget pictures which are also genre pictures. so in fairness we have a very skillfully shot film, nicely edited ( owing i felt a large debt to 'Primer' stylistically). and there is laurence fishburne who is good but he is only now and forever more morphius in the matrix for all eternity, more or less. unfortunately, the script is a mere cypher, merely to take you from the promising beginning, through the lacklustre and plot less main hour or so until you arrive at the climax where the largest part of the budget is spent. goodnight and thankyou. but think about this for one moment after and you will find a film which collapses under scrutiny. which is not the worst thing, after all some of the most entertaining movies i have see are ridiculous when analysed.. but apart from the million dollar effects shot this is a film that struggles to tell any kind of cogent narrative at all. it is similar in tone to chronicle, a superior film in it's depiction of humans becoming 'more than human'.. and it has very strong echoes to donnie darko. so kudos for the effort. next time try and develop character and plot a little more and you will come up with something quite good i am sure. as it is a sunny day i gives it 6 : )

Three MIT students are driving cross country to California. Nic (Brenton Thwaites) with his disability seems to be pushing his girlfriend Haley (Olivia Cooke) away. A hacker has been harassing Nic and Jonah (Beau Knapp). They track him to a desert house. Something happens and Nic wakes up in a facility treated by Damon (Laurence Fishburne) in an isolation suit. Haley is unconscious and Jonah is missing. Then he discovers his defective legs have been replaced by some sort of advanced prostheses.

Director William Eubank brings a nice look to a sci-fi premise with some promise. However the writing isn't up to scratch. The story has a couple of problems. Thwaites is not necessarily a big time star in waiting. They need to work on the couple's relationship. Parts of this movie feels overextended. It doesn't quite work.

I actually enjoyed this movie for more than half of it. It had a great atmosphere and pretty good characters. It was kind of a throwback to 70s-style Sci-fi, before everything had to have a lot of action in it. Lawrence Fishburne may not have a lot of range, but what he does, he does well.

Apparently, the makers didn't think today's viewers would settle for that sort of thing, so about three quarters of the way through, it takes an abrupt turn to Stupid Town, and the try to jam every cliché trope we've come to expect from more modern sci fi: implausible escapes, contrived chase scenes, ridiculous shoot-em-ups, and Matrix-style special effects. At that point, logic and continuity are just thrown out the window. Then, when they decided the movie was long enough, they slapped on an ending that may literally have been drawn from a hat of possible options.

It's too bad, because if they'd stuck it out the way it was going, it could have been good.