The Horror Show
Dark Signal
by Edward Evers-Swindell
I love a movie that gives a slow burn. I love the build up, I love when it comes full circle, and Dark Signal tries very hard to be one of those movies. Unfortunately it misses the mark by millimeters and is a total case of close but no cigar.
The film starts off very disjointed. We have a dream sequence/flashback telling the story of the Wedlock Killer, called that because of his habit of snipping off ring fingers as trophies. The dreamer, a DJ named Laurie Wolf, was a victim of the Wedlock Killer that survived. Tonight is the final broadcast of her radio show.
We then jump to our single mother, Kate. She's doing her best to give her cripple son the best life, however she isn't doing so well. Kate has a good friend named Ben who just happens to be the sound engineer for Laurie Wolf's last show. He has invited Kate to visit but she has a date with her no-good boyfriend, and the date is actually a breaking and entering. The boyfriend has told Kate it belongs to a footballer that owes him money and when he gets this score he will make sure her son is comfortable. Back at the radio station, Laurie and Ben are doing the most bitter show ever. Laurie isn't happy that Ben has booked a psychic for her final show. As Ben is showing the psychic how the show is on a delay, they discover an anomaly that turns out to be an EVP, electronic voice phenomenon.
This is where things go wrong.
This is a ghost story, but it's a ghost story that is very heavy on the story part. It is a connected story that takes its time getting to the thread that binds the narrative. It's full of a lot of things that are just illogical. I caught myself actually yelling “THAT'S NOT HOW GAS WORKS!” at the TV. Bad science aside, once I got to the climax of the movie I was tired. It felt like too much work to get to the payoff.
I honestly believe in what Coco Chanel says about fashion, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.” I really feel like this movie should have taken this advice. We could have dropped Kate all together and it would have been fine. I enjoyed the ending, but as a whole I thought Dark Signal was slow and crowded. It makes me sad when a movie has potential, but just misses the mark.
Robin Thompson, HMS
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