A mysterious signal turns those who see it a psychotic state of paranoia. People become convinced everybody else is out to get them and they had better get their retaliation in first. The signal also limits the ability of those affected to tell the difference between reality and delusion. The Signal is divided into three parts with a different director helming each segment.
David Bruckner Directs Transmission 1
‘Crazy in Love’ sees an adulterous young woman heading home after meeting her lover, Ben (Justin Chadwell). Mya (Anessa Ramsey) has a disturbing encounter with a young man who has been stabbed. When she gets back to her building she can hear shouting coming from the other apartments. Inside her own, her husband Lewis (AJ Bowen) questions her about her evening. Then he snaps and bashes his mate Jerry’s head in with a baseball bat.
Bruckner’s direction is minimalistic, putting the emphasis on tension. Everyday objects become weapons. Mya flees her apartment, but she is barefoot and slips on blood on the corridor floor. There is a man calmly walking through the building cutting people up with a pair of garden shears. Mya manages to hide in a friend’s apartment, until the following morning when she puts her headphones on and walks out of the building.
Jacob Gentry Directs Transmission II
Gentry’s segment, ‘Jealousy Monster’ veers into black comedy as Lewis turns up at the home of Anna (Cheri Christian) wrongly believing his wife is there. Anna is preparing for a New Year’s party with her husband Ken, although she refuses to admit she has already killed him with a balloon pump. Next door neighbour Clark (Scott Poythress) drops by to pick up some gardening tools Ken borrowed.
‘Jealousy Monster’ plays like a deranged situation comedy as Anna prepares for the party as if nothing is wrong, while Lewis and Clark deal with one of the finest party guests in movie history. Jim Parsons (Chadrian McKnight), a moustachioed Jim Caviezel lookalike, is blithely unaware of the carnage going on around him. Jim just wants to get laid or at least better last year’s party, when he made out with a dog.
Dan Bush Directs Transmission III
‘Escape from Terminus’ returns to the tense horror of the first section. Ben and Clark are pursued by the increasingly unhinged Lewis through the city. Dan Bush largely foregoes dialogue for action, right up until the ambiguous ending. Flashbacks to earlier moments in Ben and Mya’s relationship are used to poignant effect and the ambiguous ending leaves the viewer as uncertain about what is real and imagined as the characters in the film.
- The Signal
- Starring Anessa Ramsey, Justin Chadwell, AJ Bowen
- Written by David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry, Dan Bush
- Directed by David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry and Dan Bush
- Year of Releas 2007
- Running time 104 mins
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