Year: 2014
Director: William Eubank
According to legend, Kevin Rowland stormed into Dexys’ rehearsals one day, slammed a load of classic Stax records on the table, and said his band’s ambition should be to sound “like this, but better”. William Eubank’s first feature “Love” seemed like an audacious attempt to out-Kubrick Kubrick. 2001-style, it came in three parts – the first historical, the second set aboard a space craft (in this case The International Space Station) and the third a trippy finale which dared to walk the line between profound and pretentious (did I mention it was his first feature?). Like 2001, it divided its audience sharply, with as many infuriated or bewildered as awestruck.
For Eubank’s second film The Signal we are in more familiar genre territory. Three young friends have traced a hacker who has jacked into their computers and curiosity causes them to pay him or her a visit. When they arrive at the location something weird happens and in the next scene the main character, Nic, awakens in what appears to be a government containment facility surrounded by men in decontamination suits but with his friends nowhere to be seen. From here the plot twists in ways both genuinely unexpected and familiar to those with a taste for sci fi leaning conspiracy thrillers (Area 51 even gets a namecheck at one point).
While a lot of the blockbusters (particularly in this genre) of recent years have fallen flat, The Signal is the latest in a line of low budget science fiction films which have impressed. the availability of affordable CGI has allowed these films to look terrific, but it has been the skilful direction and thought-provoking scripts that have really impressed. (So much so, you wonder if it’s a good thing the way the likes of Gareth Edwards, Rian Johnson and Josh Trank have been drafted by the big studios merely to helm blockbusters and sequels).
Some of the acting here is noticeably low budget, although Laurence Fishburne is on hand to anchor things. Unfortunately, the only female character does nothing and is quite superfluous.
It’s taken a while for The Signal to get a release over here – in truth it’s a very well made but unexceptional sci fi thriller – but I hope it does well as this director is one to watch.
*Love is available for under a fiver on dvd – it’s worth a punt.
Might appeal to people who enjoyed:
The Machine, Chronicle, Lunopolis
Rowland is full of FAIL!
The Stig’s let himself go a bit.
Well I caught up with this on DVD @sewer-robot and thought that it didn’t escape fatal plot holes familiar with this genre: the set-up is just fine, 3 hackers chasing a mysterious adversary, and the first 20 mins in the mysterious facility, while not especially original, at least held together. But from the ‘six million dollar man’ revelation – would someone really not look at their legs for several days? Did they close their eyes when they went to the toilet? Onwards it falls apart very quickly. The final revelation is completely unearned and while not quite at the level of Boxing Helena’s ‘it was all a dream’ comes pretty close.
Cheers for that moseley – saves me from all that tension I might have suffered wondering what was going to happen next. i mean, really.
@mc-escher is not the general rule of spoilers that writing about something that’s first run or thereabouts – so currently perhaps Arrival, the new Star Wars (I have seen plenty of articles in newspapers giving away the specifics of the ending and it’s not out on DVD yet) you shouldn’t give away key plot points, while after say a year then the rules are somewhat relaxed in the interest of discussion and analysis.
There will always be someone who hasn’t seen The Wizard of Oz, but does that stop us discussing the revelation that the wizard is just a little old man behind the curtain?
Genuinely interested. Assumed my post would only be of interest to @sewer-robot as it’s a somewhat obscure 2014 lo-budget film that from the postings only he and I have seen.
Well I agree generally, but since this thread has risen, salmon like, to the recently updated list it intrigued me. My mouse was hovering over the “add to list” button on Cinema Paradiso until I read your post *sobs into apron*
I’ve not really given away that much – these films are always about ‘revelations’ and the only one I describe in any detail happens about 40 mins in, and there’s at least two big reveals after that. My opinion on the storytelling behind them is of course purely subjective…. if you’re a fan of Primer, Monsters, Moon etc and can indulge some iffy acting then it may be worth 86 minutes of your time. Certainly the first 40 mins are v good. Have a watch and tell us what you think. I watched it at the weekend.
Ordered!
Blimey! Funny to see this turn up after all this time. Tbf, I don’t think I oversold its merits – it was more that I had been disillusioned around then by some of the “big” sci fi films and noticed a trend of being pleasantly surprised by what was being done on fairly small budgets. Mind, I’ve not seen it since, so I wouldn’t be surprised if, on second viewing, my opinion was closer to yours, moseleymoles…