I don't consider myself terribly conspiracy minded -- unlike the masses of gullible and/or mildly to seriously mentally deranged folks out there -- but I'm a firm believer in questioning things until they're scientifically disproved. Take, for instance, the seemingly increasing preponderance of medical ills facing people nowadays. While unhealthy lifestyles and exposure to all sorts of bad chemicals over the decades are certainly to blame, I can't help but think that another type of pollution -- the kind involving airwaves -- is also a culprit.
And I'm not just talking about the content of television programming that's beamed into our living rooms and bedrooms every day (although the dumbing-down of society certainly can be traced to that). Instead, I'm referring to the actual transmission of signals through the air, be they of the television, radio, satellite, cell phone or wireless Internet varieties.
After all, while electromagnetic waves from outer space have hit Earth since the beginning of time, it's only been the last century or so that so many have traveled through human bodies on a daily basis, and that certainly can't be good for one's organs, DNA and such. For the conspiracy minded, however, what's possibly in those transmissions, and how such signals are being used by the government or other entities to affect and/or direct our behavior is of much greater concern.
That's pretty heady stuff for a horror film, although flicks such as Videodrome (1983) and its subsequent imitators have played around with similar subject matter. One can now add "The Signal" to the mix, although in full disclosure it's more akin to and certainly plays off the conventions of the zombie sub-genre that's more than worn out its welcome of recent.
In the film -- that's arranged as a closely tied trilogy of segments helmed by different filmmakers -- some sort of odd and nebulous signal has taken over all of the airwaves, including that of phones and TVs. While the inability to access either would drive most people nuts in today's technology-laden society, the effect is a little more severe here. Rather than going out to see if the neighbors are experiencing the same thing, most of the characters here turn into delirious, homicidal maniacs, prone to bashing, chopping, shooting and otherwise mindlessly dispatching anyone in sight.
As directed in order by David Bruckner, Dan Bush and Jacob Gentry, the film's three parts aren't as distinct as some might hope. The first, where the premise and central characters are established, is pretty much a straightforward zombie type flick, with some fairly intense action and attack sequences.
The second, and most entertaining segment at least to yours truly, goes more of the black comedy route. While "Shaun of the Dead" completely mastered that approach, there are various amusing moments to be had, and the whole notion of said overall material is so preposterous to begin with that the tone feels most right here.
The third installment goes back to a more serious vein, and even tries to add an intellectual twist to all that's occurred. Even so, that comes off better in concept than execution, which also holds true for various flashbacks that show previous action and developments from different vantage points.
Performances are generally okay for a flick of this caliber, with none being terribly memorable, although the filmmakers do manage - to some degree -- to keep one's interest in terms of who will make it through to the end and who will otherwise meet an untimely (and often grisly) demise.
The film clearly doesn't break any new ground, and will likely have audiences divided over its thematic and entertainment qualities. That said, I've never seen so many people walk out of an advance screening of a film as occurred with this offering, so you may want to take that for what it's worth. At times fairly suspenseful, certainly gruesome throughout, and sometimes fairly amusing, "The Signal" isn't quite good (or bad) enough to be a guilty pleasure and thus rates as just a 4 out of 10.
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