I’d like to feature a wonderful independent horror film today.

WATCH: The Signal (2006) – “When the phones, radios and televisions in the city of Terminus begin to broadcast the same strange signal, the transmission breeds jealousy and hate, turning once-sane people into murderous lunatics. A faithless wife seeks the safety of her lover, while her affected husband hunts for her. David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry and Dan Bush each write and direct an act of this horror tale that was nominated for a John Cassavetes Independent Spirit Award.”

After an uncomfortable opening sendup of exploitation pictures, the movie is divided into 3 parts, each directed in a different style. The first part which sets up the premise and deals with the initial ‘outbreak’ is very tense and genuinely frightening. There is a really good atmosphere of building paranoia and creeping insanity. Just when you think they can’t ratchet up the tension any more, part two begins. Part two starts to tell the story from the point of view of those affected by the signal. With the change of director, not only does the direction of the story change but the tone does a complete 180. The second film is hysterical – one of the funniest horror segments I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately the third film is left to wrap up the story and while it does bring up some interesting questions such as our identity, it feels very cluttered and doesn’t wrap up the movie very well. The tone of the third segment also feels very uneven. Overall the film is a wonderful experiment in terror, leavened with a lot of humor – please be aware however that this film is quite brutal.