I know Sir Pryz is usually the one to do this, but I saw a movie at 2:30 in the AM skunk as a drunk a couple nights ago and it hit hard. So I thought I’d commandeer the TTC vessel this time around.

This was released by Magnolia Pictures (imagine that!) which released priceless flicks such as “Murder Party” (Sir Pryz) , “Cashback” (again, Sir Pryz ), “Humboldt County”, “The Host” and so on and so forth. You can be certain with a Magnolia Pictures film you’re in for a ride, be it bumpy or calm.

“The Signal” takes place in the fictional city of Terminus on New Years Eve when a change in human behavior engulfs its inhabitants. This change is caused by signals sent through T.V.s, radio, GPS, phones, anything that recieves The Signal. Visually, it looks like what would be the desired effect in a shroom trip (“Shrooms” is also a Magnolia Pic Flick). And on the phone it sounds like the terror filled days of Dial-Up… If Dial-Up came back to kill us all for leaving it behind.

Prolonged exposure to The Signal causes insanity. What type of insanity? The kind that distorts your perception of the world around you and completely rationalizes killing a human being without a second thought. People riot in the streets, killing each other like animals desperate to survive. A trick on the playing field of their media and their minds. Makeshift weaponry as far as the eye can see!

Told in three parts, from three differing perspectives, you experience confusion laced with humor intertwined with bedlam sewed onto confusion and mindfuckery. On their journey to Terminal 13, their ride out of the shitfray, they struggle with their own sanity and keeping it from crumbling like Clint Eastwood left out in the sun for too long. And oh yes, you see a foil hat donned for the sake of survival.

The importance of The Signal almost makes me sigh with grief because so few people will get to see it. The time period we live in, along with the time period we’re on the brink of, make this flick resonate in a distinctly haunting manner. In an era so obsessed with technology it borders on a fetish, this movie makes you wonder… “Is it all making us crazy?”

People have been crazy before our time, that is well known. But haven’t you noticed that everyone is crazy? At least the ones who are paying attention even a little! It makes it pretty difficult to decipher the people who let their craziness bend their perception like a pretzel. And if you think we’re crazy now just wait until shit REALLY hits the shingle. We haven’t seen SHIT yet. The Signal illustrates a zombie uprising that’s a little less far-fetched (not to say a zombies could never happen).

The Signal has some interesting special features. The ones that stood out most were the short films about people around the city of Terminus. Short stories that add depth to the events taking place in the city. It connects a lot to the idea of total chaos taking place while the ones creating it are seeing it as a rational reaction. After seeing this movie, my first instinct was to tell everyone I knew about it. So this is my way of doing it. Check out the signal and get ready for the Mindfudge.

Do You Have The Crazy?