A strange signal blankets the airwaves, overriding TVs, phones and radio. Anyone who spends too much time watching it becomes paranoid and violent, and soon there is anarchy across the city as assaults and murders spiral out of control. The handful of people not affected by the signal must try to survive as their neighbours become violent sociopaths.
So far, so "rage zombie 101". Where The Signal at least tries to be a little out of the ordinary is that not everyone exhibits the same symptoms after becoming infected. Or at least, not to the same degree. They all become homicidally violent but some retain the ability to speak and interact and even to some extent to control their actions. Though it's generally a tenuous grip at best. What that means is that the guy who seems relatively calm and says that he's just looking for his wife might actually be far more dangerous than the nutter with the crowbar who is hammering at your door.
Written and directed as three short films that connect to and follow on from one another, The Signal suffers from some tonal inconsistencies (much of the middle section has a blackly comic tone that's not supported by the other parts at all) and from some dubious continuity. It also has an ending that wikipedia tells me is meant to be ambiguous, but which feels to me more like it's just cadged straight off Brazil.
If you're a hardcore zombie apocalypse fan, this might be worth your time. Otherwise you can safely skip it.
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