The Signal 2007

Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Times: This three-part horror movie directed by a trio of Atlanta filmmakers is set during the collapse of Terminus, a fictional city whose citizens are being driven to rage. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: [A] cagey low-budget horror flick. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: None of the rabbit holes in The Signal go that deep. But you do leave persuaded that you've discovered some talented people. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: The Signal is electrifying, deliciously mad and twisted filmmaking. It's certainly not for everyone, but chances are it will inspire many. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: This Look Ma, no hands! And no head either! horror film makes a Mixmaster stew out of Poltergeist, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Re-Animator, They Came From Within, and Shaun of the Dead. Read more

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: It's all screwball fun until someone gets bugsprayed down the throat. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: The Signal is a well-oiled example of that oxymoronic Tarantino phenomenon: the arty grindhouse picture. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Ultimately, The Signal doesn't rewrite the rules of horror, the way those masters did. But its filmmakers do provide a creepy, bloody good show. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: A slasher fest that references such predecessors as George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead and Pulse, a 2001 chiller by Japan's talented Kiyoshi Kurosawa, while still remaining original. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: It doesn't take long for the The Signal's promising beginning to fade into a haze that leaves the viewer exhausted and irritated. Read more

Jim Emerson, Chicago Sun-Times: A movie that explores the common ground between visceral horror and sketch comedy, and finds plenty of it. Read more

Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle: You will definitely appreciate this film's ambition, if not its execution. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: With just one compelling sequence emerging from so many filmmakers' efforts, The Signal is decidedly less than the sum of its parts. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Read more

Robert Koehler, Variety: Thesps get seriously into the roles, rendering the situation that much funnier. Read more

Jim Ridley, Village Voice: This uneven but impressive shot-on-digital shocker earns a marker in the mausoleum of apocalyptic horror -- a genre that's proving (un)surprisingly durable in the new century. Read more

John Anderson, Washington Post: In a movie about perception, misperception and the ramifications of misunderstanding, it's a bit ironic that the directors can't get out of one another's way. Read more