The Signal

The three-part film The Signal was shot independently by a trio of writer-directors—David Bruckner, Dan Bush, and Jacob Gentry—and while the “transmissions” flow together fairly well (quite an accomplishment, given the fact that the narrative shuffles chronology), all of this technical legerdemain only serves a standard horror story about an unexplained force that uses the interference in television broadcasts, radio signals, and cell phones, to turn people into paranoid killers. The focus is on a man (AJ Bowen) embarked on a jealousy-driven pursuit of his unfaithful wife and her lover, who meets other characters along the way, including a woman who's killed her infected husband, and a horny partygoer (Chad McKnight). But even the B-movie plot ultimately takes a backseat to a series of bloody face-offs, sometimes featuring knives, drills, and saws, but most often good old-fashioned baseball bats. The Signal effectively transmits an underlying sense of unease, punctuated by periodic outbursts of in-your-face gore, but while the film packs a certain gritty punch, and scores with a few satiric barbs about middle-class life, in the end it doesn't amount to much more than the usual genre static. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by directors Jacob Gentry, David Bruckner, and Dan Bush, the 15-minute “making-of” featurette “Inside Terminus,” 13 minutes of “Transmissions” bonus shorts, the 13-minute “The Hap Hapgood Story” short film used in the feature (with introduction), six minutes of deleted scenes, a “Signal Breakdown” production featurette (5 min.), a brief “The Signal” video clip from the film, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a disappointing film.] (F. Swietek)