Being from Atlanta, Georgia I knew about the indie film THE SIGNAL long before it was picked up for distribution by Magnolia Films. I know many of the actors in the film and knew about it through them (at the time I was in the middle of production on my own film which has yet to find a distributer). It was great to hear that the film had been picked up for theatrical distribution by one of the major indie distributors.
The film made headlines all over the net and in magazines and newspapers and it was suppose to be one of the major indie films of the summer. Too bad the film didn’t make it into theatres. Due to some technical difficulties (of which I’ve heard a thousand rumors) the film was held for almost a year before getting a limited release with little publicity and little fanfare. By the time the film was finally released to theaters the “buzz” behind it was gone amid mixed reviews and a timid response from those reviewers that had happened to see the film at a film festival.
I ended up missing the film during its theatrical release, but this did not stop me from purchasing the film when it hit DVD. The film concerns a couple who are just trying to find each other amid an apocalyptic event that makes sane people go out and start killing people for no reason. The film is told in three segments by three different writers & directors, so, in a sense the film is trying to be a new type of anthology film that retains the same characters throughout. This is a very lamentable goal except that many audiences were turned away by the shift in tone and mood between the first and second “transmissions” (as they are called in the film).
I admire what the filmmakers tried to accomplish but the film looses something when it goes from the first transmission to the second one since the film shifts gears to focus on the villain of the film and bring in a bunch of new characters that were not in the first transmission. I actually enjoyed the comedy and dark humor of the second transmission and only wish that it had gone a step further (although upon a second viewing I’m beginning to think that it’s the score of the film that turned my off during this part of the film). The first transmission is a very good setup for the film but because the main character Mya (Anessa Ramsey) has little to nothing to do in the second and third transmissions she is sorely missed. This and the fact that the first transmission is the shortest of the three leaves me a tad disappointed since she did such a good job in the film.
The second transmission has more gore but it seems to take away from the film at times or just plain is a little too much. It feels like it’s trying to be THE EVIL DEAD which the rest of the film is not. The funny thing is that everyone in this segment does a great job but this transmission feels like a very good short film and not a piece of this feature.
The third transmission focuses on Ben (Justin Welborn) who after being captured and beat up by Mya’s husband he tries to find her amid the chaos of Terminus City while being chased by Mya’s husband.. This is more of a suspenseful chase film only less suspenseful since it’s one man chasing another man instead of a man chasing a woman. What saves this segment is Welborn’s performance as something is “lost in translation” when you have a male maniac chasing after another male character.
Overall, the film is not a bad film simply because it tries to throw away all the clichés of the genre and present something new while also providing audiences with something personal which is the journey of two people trying to find each other amid the chaos, whatever it might be.
The film made headlines all over the net and in magazines and newspapers and it was suppose to be one of the major indie films of the summer. Too bad the film didn’t make it into theatres. Due to some technical difficulties (of which I’ve heard a thousand rumors) the film was held for almost a year before getting a limited release with little publicity and little fanfare. By the time the film was finally released to theaters the “buzz” behind it was gone amid mixed reviews and a timid response from those reviewers that had happened to see the film at a film festival.
I ended up missing the film during its theatrical release, but this did not stop me from purchasing the film when it hit DVD. The film concerns a couple who are just trying to find each other amid an apocalyptic event that makes sane people go out and start killing people for no reason. The film is told in three segments by three different writers & directors, so, in a sense the film is trying to be a new type of anthology film that retains the same characters throughout. This is a very lamentable goal except that many audiences were turned away by the shift in tone and mood between the first and second “transmissions” (as they are called in the film).
I admire what the filmmakers tried to accomplish but the film looses something when it goes from the first transmission to the second one since the film shifts gears to focus on the villain of the film and bring in a bunch of new characters that were not in the first transmission. I actually enjoyed the comedy and dark humor of the second transmission and only wish that it had gone a step further (although upon a second viewing I’m beginning to think that it’s the score of the film that turned my off during this part of the film). The first transmission is a very good setup for the film but because the main character Mya (Anessa Ramsey) has little to nothing to do in the second and third transmissions she is sorely missed. This and the fact that the first transmission is the shortest of the three leaves me a tad disappointed since she did such a good job in the film.
The second transmission has more gore but it seems to take away from the film at times or just plain is a little too much. It feels like it’s trying to be THE EVIL DEAD which the rest of the film is not. The funny thing is that everyone in this segment does a great job but this transmission feels like a very good short film and not a piece of this feature.
The third transmission focuses on Ben (Justin Welborn) who after being captured and beat up by Mya’s husband he tries to find her amid the chaos of Terminus City while being chased by Mya’s husband.. This is more of a suspenseful chase film only less suspenseful since it’s one man chasing another man instead of a man chasing a woman. What saves this segment is Welborn’s performance as something is “lost in translation” when you have a male maniac chasing after another male character.
Overall, the film is not a bad film simply because it tries to throw away all the clichés of the genre and present something new while also providing audiences with something personal which is the journey of two people trying to find each other amid the chaos, whatever it might be.
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