Guide Note

The Signal is a horror film about mysterious electronic signals coming through cell phones, televisions and radios, that turn people into paranoid killers. The Signal was released on February 22, 2008 and grossed $144,836 opening weekend at the box office and was given an overall medium rating by the critics.

Fast Facts

1. Release Date: February 22, 2008
2. Directors/Writers: David Bruckner, Dan Bush and Jacob Gentry
3. Starring: A.J. Bowen, Anessa Ramsey, Justin Welborn, Christopher Thomas, Scott Poythress, Sahr Ngaujah, Cheri Christian, Chad McKnight
4. Rated R
5. Run time: 99 minutes
6. Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007
7. Tagline: "Do you have the crazy?"
8. Budget: $50,000
9. Shot in 13 days
10. Told from 3 prospectives

The Dada gross-out jokes are inventive, but The Signal mostly comes down to rage fiends going at one another with baseball bats, knives, pesticide tanks, and power drills. C+ — Entertainment Weekly

Television isn't merely a vast wasteland in "The Signal," but a malevolent weapon that turns viewers into homicidal maniacs. Borrowing heavily from the current trend in zombie comedy and apocalyptic horror but shifting it away from the usual undead norms, pic carves out a fresh angle in the crowded indie horror universe while blatantly stealing ideas from Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Pulse." Hipster support nurtured by Sundance and South by Southwest screenings could carve out a path to good alt commercial prospects theatrically and in its natural venue on homevid. — Variety