Reviews From the Horror Chamber -- The Signal, Revamped

Welcome to Reviews from the Horror Chamber. I am your chamber-keeper, Anthony Thurber.

George Romero’s Diary of the Dead hit theaters yesterday. It has an interesting tagline on the poster, “Where will you be, when the end begins?” I think I can answer that question, right now.

I’ll be waiting for this movie to hit my local theaters.

Yes, it was one those limited releases, in which if you don’t live in a major city then your left waiting to see the film whenever or your local big movie theater ever decides to pick the film up or when it hits DVD. You would think with George Romero’s name on it would be released in more theaters or play in my area. This is not the only film that currently at my local theaters that I’m pissed off about not being there as I’m also waiting for In Bruges to play there too. It amazing that the local theater chains and distributors don’t expose these films to a wide audience expose them to wide audience, as they pick up and distribute fucking crap like The Eye, Step Up 2, and Meet the Spartans. It sickens me to see two screens of the titles I just mentioned at my Cineplex and zero screens for Diary of the Dead and In Bruges. At least my local Cineplex doesn’t care because they are probably going have at least one screen of Witless Protection staring some bad comedian instead of having movies I want. Now on to the reviews, for this week.

The Signal

Year: 2008

Directors: David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry, Dan Bush

Stars: Justin Welborne, A.J. Bowen, Anessa Ramsey

MPAA Rating: R

Studio: Magnet Releasing / Magnolia Pictures
Running Time: 103 Mins

Review Rating: 5 Stars
Official Website: http://www.doyouhavethecrazy.com/

Please note: This is an advance review

The Signal is rare horror film that is told in three different perspectives by three different directors. The film has played in various film festivals including the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and the 2007 South by Southwest Festival.

The film takes place on New Year’s in the city of Terminus where everyone is gathering to ring in the New Year. Everything is all well until a mysterious signal of communication begins to jam all forms of communication. Soon the peaceful city is turned into a town filled with rage and chaos, when the signal starts to change the way people act and think. Amidst all this, Ben, a rebellious person (Justin Welborne) is trying save a woman (Anessa Ramsey), whose husband (A.J Bowen) has been acting very violent since the signal begin transmitting. During this, he begins to have trouble trying to figure out, whom to trust or not trust by trying to uncover the signal’s true temperament and stop it. The Signal is a horror film that explores the darkest things that man might be capable of.

After enduring my last theatrical review (The Eye), I was happy to finally to see a film that is a Cult Classic in the making. The Signal is the first great horror film of 2008. Before everyone goes off and telling me that “Insert January 2008 major horror film” was great, I haven’t seen it, so I can’t judge that film, but this is one of the most original zombie films that I’ve seen in a while. I liked how they weren’t the flesh eating kind of zombie that’s seen in most of these zombie films. This film is very violent and gory. It has this Pulp Fiction/Videodrome feel to it both structurally and violently. Their (David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry, Dan Bush) screenplay was very good overall. It’s a unique style of storytelling that’s not used in many horror films. The three directors bring their own apocalyptic vision to the film, in their direction and writing of their act, as the film has three parts or transmissions as it’s called in the film. The transitions to each of the acts were very good. The first act severs as a very good introduction to the characters and the events of the film. The first act focuses on a woman who’s coming home from having an affair with another person, then witnessing her husband go crazy. Once the introduction was done, it was creepy and suspenseful. The second act, I won’t tell you what happens because it’s a continuation from the first act. The act felt a little weird to me in the beginning, but it’s one of those things that’s good for the movie because it slows the action down a bit and makes it feel like more of a roller-coaster ride. The climax of the film in the last act was very good. The final act kept me on the edge of my seat, as it was suspenseful and entertaining. Overall as a horror and independent film fan, these three filmmakers should be congratulated for making this great film under the budget constrains they had.

The acting in the film was also very good. The actors were very into their roles here. I liked how they bring their own style to their character. Another amazing thing with this film (according to imdb.com) was the fact two of the three main actors (Anessa Ramsey, A.J Bowen) only had a couple of film roles to their credit, before this film and they were both great. The standout performances in the film, was from A.J. Bowen. He manages to balance his performance very well as he totally two different people into one. One minute he’s this normal person that you see in the second act then the next minute, he’s a complete psychopathic brainwashed murderer. This is done very well, it contributes to the paranoid state of the film.

Gorehounds and Psychological film fans, I highly urge you to seek this film out when it has its limited release into theaters this Friday. To view theater listings, for where The Signal is playing, you can go to, http://www.magpictures.com/dates.aspx?id=855268c5-0565-42e7-bdb9-10839bf88ccd.

The Signal is what the horror genre is supposed to be. Horror fans need to support this film. I want to see more films like this instead of the needless remakes/mindless PG-13 movies. You can catch a free screening of the Signal on February 18th in New York City at 7 PM at the Sunshine Landmark.

And for an added bonus, courtesy from Magnolia Entertainment, you can download a cover of Joy Division’s “Atmosphere” by David Wingo, the title track from The Signal at http://promo.magpictures.com/SIGNAL/song/atmosphere_wingo2.mp3. Please help support this film and independent horror when it hits theaters on February 22nd.

Revamped

Year: 2008
Director: Jeff Rector
Stars: Jeff Rector, Christa Campbell, Fred Williamson,
MPAA Rating: R
Studio: Millennium Concepts / MTI Home Video
Running Time: 93 Mins
Review Rating: 3.5 Stars
Official Website: http://www.revampedthemovie.com/

Please Note, This is an advance review.

Revamped is the sequel to the short film “Fatal Kiss” that played on HBO back in 2002. The comedy- horror film is about a wealthy businessman who is bitten willing by a vampire willingly after having found out that his wife is cheating on him. Soon, he begin to lunge into the dark underworld and begins to realize that being a vampire is not what he expected, as he’s caught in the middle of a war between vampires and vampire hunters. Can he get out of this mess before he ends up dead forever? The film also has cameos from Reggie Bannister (Phantasm), Carel Struyckey (The Adams Family), Kato Katlin (O.J. Simpson Trial Witness) and Martin Kove (The Karate Kid films).

Revamped has some bite to it. Jeff Rector does a good with wearing many hats during the production of this film, as he is the writer, Producer, director and star. I liked how the film’s story didn’t try to be like the original and focuses on more in horror genre then in the dark comedy genre. The screenplay was good. I liked how the screenplay spends the first fifteen minutes recapping the events of Fatal Kiss, as it gave the background on the main character for those who haven’t seen the short film unlike me. His screenplay stays on course for the most part; as it didn’t neglect the new characters as he does spend time developing background to the other main characters that weren’t in the original short. The film also leaves a door open for film, which I wouldn’t mind seeing. This film also has some humor that was balanced very well with the action here. It was good for the film, as it helped the film not get too dark or too boring. The action weren’t bad, as the sequences worked well with the film.

The acting was also good. Jeff Rector does a good job in making his character a very likeable good guy that has a superhero type feel to it. Also, Christa Campbell continues to prove why she one of the hottest scream queens out there today, as her performance was good for the time she was onscreen. The cameos were also good, as it didn’t feel like a B-list convention movie, which happens, with some of these low-budget horror films.

Revamped is a film that will make you be satisfied with your bite as it mixes comedy and horror very well.

Please Note: Revamped will be on DVD shelves, February 19th.

DVD Extras:

Audio Commentary from Director, Writer, Producer and Star, Jeff Rector
Behind the Scenes Featurette
Official Trailers for Revamped, All In, and Experiment.


If you’re a filmmaker, interested in having your horror film reviewed in the horror chamber, you can reach the Chamber Keeper himself at Anthonythurber@filmarcade.net or the head of Film Arcade TonyD at TonyD@filmarcade.net

Also, don’t forget to add the official myspace home of Reviews From the Horror Chamber at http://www.myspace.com/reviewsfromthehorchamber.

Well that’s it for this week’s edition of Reviews Form the Horror Chamber. Next Week, I’ll have new reviews for Adam Green’s new film Spiral and I have a couple titles up my sleeve, as it could be festival films or films that’s currently on DVD.

Until then, have a frightening week.