Broadcast Signal Intrusion

Shum Jr is decent in the lead, but he's wrestling with a sloppy script and zero character development. The supporting cast is poor, all hammy hams. Every line is exposition - which I think is meant to be in the style of a 'hard-boiled detective thriller', but comes off as hokey.

It's meant to be set in the late 90s, but the soundtrack seems to think this is a noir movie, full of saxophones and quirky embellishments. But there isn't a single visual noir element, so it never works. Then we'll get some 70s-style psychadelic music for no reason. What a mess. The cinematography flits between hand-held and locked at random, so there is no flow. It all boils down to poor direction.

The story amounts to nothing - it's a simple procedural tale of a man investigating an unsolved mini-mystery with a bog-standard conclusion. For some reason, the movie is labeled as a 'horror', which is laughable. The VHS-style video 'intrusions' he is investigating are too hilarious to be creepy. And too innocuous. The 'crime' he is investigating for most of the runtime is the interruption of TV broadcasts. Why? Because the script says so, that's why.

It's also too slow to be a thriller. It's like an extended X-Files episode, but not one of the good episodes.

Had high hopes for this mystery-horror. The real life BSI phenomenon has always intrigued me. The movie draws inspiration from the (still unsolved) real life 1987 Max Headroom US signal hijackings, and the 2004 'I Feel Fantastic' internet videos, featuring Tara the android. The performances of Harry Shum Jr as lead character James, and Kelley Mack as his mysterious helper, Alice, are very good. The rest of the cast are pretty solid. Jacob Gentry's direction and Scott Thiele's cinematography create a strong sense of unease. The idea of James coming to terms with a recent loss whilst at the same time tracking the source of a series of mysterious broadcasts he stumbles across whilst cataloguing archive VHS recordings is one that pulls you in. The meetings with mysterious figures offering tantalising crumbs of information along the way wouldn't be out of place in The X-Files, whilst the sense of disassociation and other-worldliness put me in mind of The Last Broadcast (1998), Banshee Chapter (2013), and Censor (2021).

But despite looking great and having an interesting hook I found it a letdown. I like slow-burn thrillers/horrors - but they need a payoff. This... kinda did, but what exactly happens and the real answer to the mystery are never explained. Some movies lead you to a place where you have to work it out. This doesn't do that; it leaves you guessing - which isn't the same thing. There are a ton of fan-theories online about what it all means, what's/who's real, what/who isn't; but they're just that - fan-theories. There's nothing that fits perfectly. And despite some strong imagery that stays with you, I was left feeling I'd wasted my time. I'm sure the director can justify every choice he made, but for me he missed the mark. Good acting, premise, and atmosphere get it a 5/10.

'Broadcast Signal Intrusion' is a strange movie. It's based around a character who is obsessed with a conspiracy he has stumbled upon, however we don't really understand his motives or obsession, and so it can be quite hard to stay invested in it with him. Where it all ends up actually turns out to be reasonably interesting, but we don't know that's going to be the case, and so the journey can be an arduous one.

The movie does a good job of feeling like it is set in the 90s. It doesn't just feel like a movie set then, it feels like one that was made then. It also does a good job of utilising its clearly minimal budget.

The film's biggest problem is that it is lacking a hook. It isn't particularly scary, and it isn't always captivating in its narrative, so the audience may find itself drifting along purposeless at times. It's not a terrible film, but is reasonably forgettable. 6/10.

This movie is kind of nowhere and it goes nowhere. The one thing done well in this flick is the videos that start to unhinge our hero. The videos are creepy and unsettling and intriguing. It's too bad the rest of the movie tanks. A widower who is now very alone finds reason to think there is a conspiracy, or at least linked up crimes are hinted at in a series of signal hijackings.

Whew... I just this minute finished watching this. This is one of those odd films that takes many twists and turns, but doesn't clearly explain everything. First and foremost, this is a Mystery. Period. If you like a movie that really, REALLY draws you in and truly keeps you wondering what the HELL is going to happen next, this is for you.

This is one of those films where although in its execution it does come across as a fairly 'normal' movie, but as it gradually takes you down the rabbit hole, along with the main protagonist, you really begin to wonder what is behind all of this. And remember, this is all started by just a chance circumstance where this fellow whose job it is to transfer video cassettes randomly happens across this odd pirate signal in one of the many mundane broadcasts that he is copying from many years previously.

So, for such an odd, completely random event to draw him and us the audience into this mysterious labyrinth trying to find out what is going on, is in and of itself a bit of a mind-blower. Let me tell you, what happens next and the events that follow will challenge your mind's elasticity. Heh... I know I'm kind of building this up somewhat, because just the overall impact of it is so strange and unsettling. But, the actual progression of events take place, at least at first, just like a 'normal' mystery... That is, until you get to the end, but of course we are not going to talk about that 😊

The acting is okay, it gets the job done and is sufficient. Without giving anything away, I will say that I felt the fellow connected to the storage unit was absolutely THE best actor here by far. It was a small scene, but he frigg'n NAILED it! The technical merits are fine and everything as far as the actual filmmaking is done competently. It's just the frigg'n STORY that ultimately grabs you by the nether regions and smacks you around until you wonder what the HELL just happened!

I personally really liked the ultimate abstract nature of the story, even though it leaves you hanging 7 different way from Sunday (is that even an expression...?) and leaves many, MANY loose ends. BUT... for many people, I can see where like some of the other reviewers have stated in their titles here, it may just seem like 'nothing is happening' or that things don't seem to make sense. And, I can see where many probably will not care for that. But, I would say that, again, first and foremost, if you like a really intriguing mystery, and you don't mind a bit of a trip through the Looking Glass that ultimately and quite literally leaves you out on an unknown road somewhere, you might actually find this movie as unsettling and intriguing as I did.