Monster Movie of the Week: Signs (2002)

SIGNS (2002)

Genre: Sci-Fi/Suspense

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Country: USA

THE MOVIE

For the most part, the movies we’ve looked at in this column have featured Gratuitous Monster Action, which begs the question: How many minutes of monster action are required to make a monster movie? M. Night Shymalan’s Signs shows very little monster action, with the exception of a rather anti-climactic money-shot at the end of the movie. For the rest of the movie the presence of the monsters is felt without actually seeing them. And there are even a couple of very intense scenes in which we catch a frightening glimpse of a foot disappearing into a cornfield, or a shadow under a door or a very pixilated shape on a TV screen. So without actually showing much monster, Signs is far more scary and effective than your average monster movie. I guess the difference is like to that of erotica and full on porn (the monster equivalent of that would probably Godzilla: Final Wars.)

Signs is one of the most masterfully suspenseful movies ever made and is the work of a great director whose ego had not yet outweighed his talent. It is an interesting take on a genre we have seen many times before. What is Signs after all but a very scaled down version of Independence Day or War of the Worlds? It is the familiar alien invasion film but from the point of view of a rural family. There are no monuments to destroy, only one family and their home.

As good as the movie is, it does betray some of the flaws that have bogged down Shyamalan's subsequent movies. There is some clunky plotting and an attempt to make a faux twist-ending ("Swing Merril, Swing!") and attempts to shoehorn the story into the director's "vision" for the movie. For a movie that is called signs, and that featured crop circles prominently in its ad campaign, the movie really has little to do with them. Despite the director's contrivances the movie succeeds, and Signs is perhaps Shyamalan's most crowd-pleasing and enjoyable movie to date.

Maybe you should think about putting some damn clothes on.

THE MONSTER/EFFECTS

The monster is nothing really new or interesting. It is essentially a buffed up version of the typical grey/reptoid seen in movies and tv over the last forty years or so. It is actually quite reminiscent of the alien featured in the first X-Files movie. The main difference is that this one is able to camouflage itself.

This movie does feature some of the most hilariously unprepared aliens since War of the Worlds. You would think that if you have a dangerous aversion to water, that you would wear some kind of environment suit if you are coming to a planet that is 70% covered in the stuff. What would have happened if it had rained during their invasion?

In retrospect....

MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT

I think the pantry scene is brilliant. Mel Gibson’s character enters a kitchen having been told that an alien has been locked in the pantry. We can see that something is moving around in there. The character is terrified. The audience is terrified. We’re all torn between fear and curiosity. He spends a few moments trying to figure out what to do. Finally he grabs a knife and attempts to get a look under the door…

It’s one of the scariest scenes in any movie. So good.

SEQUELS

None.

HOME VIDEO AVAILABILITY

Widely available on DVD.

TRAILER