Broadcast Signal Intrusion

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.

Not enough meat on the bone for this script, seemed like a decent setup but it never really got out of the first act and failed to establish any kind of "stakes" to help ramp up the tension. Overall production values were decent and the acting fine for the most part. I suggest giving this one a miss however as even the "creepy pasta" subject-matter is unfulfilling.

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.

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.

Despite '60's supernatural soap 'Dark Shadows' making an appearance or two, and a villain that looks like 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation's Leatherface, this is a very talky, turgid affair.

The film goes through all the beats of being fascinating - vaguely arthouse direction, intense performances, much grandstanding - but really, it isn't. There's nothing for the viewer to latch on to and becomes frequently incomprehensible. As a result, it seems to go on for far longer than its 102 minutes.

A couple of creepy moments exist in a vacuum but aren't enough to generate much interest. When it ends, you'll wonder why you stuck it out for so long. My score is 4 out of 10.