Board 8 > Signs is a great movie.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Just watched it for the first time in years.

I know everyone thinks this movie is shit now but fuck all ya'll.

That fucking theme.

https://youtu.be/3097unnY95g


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It's a good movie with some big problems, imo.

I still enjoy catching it every once in a long while, but the parts that are bad stick out to me. I don't knock anyone who likes it though. It's good parts are very good.

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Its a bad movie but not for the reasons people think its bad
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I should clarify before people start pushing up their glasses that I know it's not, like, OBJECTIVELY good. This is the kind of movie that people who watch that Cinema Sins garbage cream their pants over.

But I can't help it! It does the same thing for me as The Ring, which I don't thing gets the same kind of hate nowadays as Signs does. Both are 10/10 for me.

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PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

It's a good movie with some big problems, imo.

I just cannot get past the heavy handed bullshit of the final moral

Yes 95% of the movie is pretty good, and it managed to have storytelling layers that the average viewer wont pick up on, and it even ignited my love of found footage horror as my favorite film genre with one little scene. The cinema sins style errors arent even errors or as stupid as people think.

But fuck the message of the movie SO HARD. Its meant to be a reaffirmation of faith being righteous, but to get there it presents a God so monstrous as to be unequivocally evil.
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Oh yeah, the actual, final ending sucks. Worst part of the movie.

Jakyl25 posted...

and it even ignited my love of found footage horror as my favorite film genre with one little scene.

This moment lives rent free in my head. Rewatching it on YouTube or even when I just rewatched the movie does not do justice to how that moment felt in an actual theater with everyone tense as fuck.

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UshiromiyaEva posted...

But I can't help it! It does the same thing for me as The Ring, which I don't thing gets the same kind of hate nowadays as Signs does. Both are 10/10 for me.

I gave The Ring a 10/10 when I watched it in October during my horror movie blitz topic. It's actually a genuinely great movie that holds up today. There's literally not any bad storytelling elements in it, and it's a pretty perfectly done adaptation of a Japanese classic that just improved on everything for an American audience.

But holy dooly, Jakyl is right about the ending, and that's pretty much where most of my problems lie with this film.

I mean, that and the aliens going to Earth even though they literally just die to water like guys you passed so many other more viable planets to get here come on.

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Signs is a better movie if you use the fan theory that the aliens are actually demons and the only reason the water hurt them was because it was all blessed. I mean I'm pretty sure the movie never even says they're aliens.

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PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

I mean, that and the aliens going to Earth even though they literally just die to water like guys you passed so many other more viable planets to get here come on.

See I dont think this is an error. I think theres enough evidence in the movie that they arent aliens, are actually demons, and the water is specifically holy water

I mean do you ever actually SEE a spaceship
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Them being demons feels like something M. Night would have been entirely too excited to reveal they're actually demons.

Didn't they all retreat specifically because of the water though? I dunno. It's been a while, and while I'm sure there's plenty behind the demon thing, I just don't think M. Night is the kind of director to leave that part ambiguous.

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Jakyl25 posted...

See I dont think this is an error. I think theres enough evidence in the movie that they arent aliens, are actually demons, and the water is specifically holy water

I mean do you ever actually SEE a spaceship

This theory is a truly herculean effort to redeem a flawed movie. I do give it an A for effort, but...

...come on.

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PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

Them being demons feels like something M. Night would have been entirely too excited to reveal they're actually demons.

Didn't they all retreat specifically because of the water though? I dunno. It's been a while, and while I'm sure there's plenty behind the demon thing, I just don't think M. Night is the kind of director to leave that part ambiguous.

The vague reason we are told they retreat is that the solution to fighting back against the aliens was found in three small cities in the Middle East.

Also its not like Shyamalan has never been ambiguous in other films.
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redrocket posted...

This theory is a truly herculean effort to redeem a flawed movie. I do give it an A for effort, but...

...come on.

I mean the entire movie is about religion and lapsed faith.

And Im also saying it DOESNT redeem the movie
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UshiromiyaEva posted...

This moment lives rent free in my head. Rewatching it on YouTube or even when I just rewatched the movie does not do justice to how that moment felt in an actual theater with everyone tense as fuck.

"That moment" remains one of the coolest, freakiest things I've ever experienced in cinema. The whole theater jumped out of their skin!


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Ngamer64 posted...

"That moment" remains one of the coolest, freakiest things I've ever experienced in cinema. The whole theater jumped out of their skin!

In the top 5 cinematic experiences for me, easily!

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Another vote for "that scene" as one of the best ever. The tension throughout that movie is some of the most palpable I've ever felt and EASILY enough to redeem it amidst a crappy ending and kind of obnoxious child actors.

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i've never seen signs but the ring sucks.

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I love Signs, one of my favorite movies, ending be damned

one of the most terrifying alien movies of all time. i love how slowly it escalates and builds tension. there's such a feeling of dread the entire time.

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I thought the scene where they were watching the footage and the alien walked around the corner like a sasquatch was incredibly stupid.

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Jakyl25 posted...

The vague reason we are told they retreat is that the solution to fighting back against the aliens was found in three small cities in the Middle East.

Also its not like Shyamalan has never been ambiguous in other films.

I find it hilarious that in order to keep the set up mysterious, local news will still do a "tune in at 11" style promo in the face of human extinction.

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I haven't seen this movie in like 15 years, what scene are you talking about?
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The birthday party video camera scene.

It's quaint if you see it for the first time nowadays, hit very differently back then.

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kevwaffles posted...

I find it hilarious that in order to keep the set up mysterious, local news will still do a "tune in at 11" style promo in the face of human extinction.

This one small trick saved humanity! Aliens hate it!
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i literally screamed and threw some of my popcorn up when i saw it in theaters

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The Birthday Party Scene if anyone needs a refresher.

https://youtu.be/HeTjBPbY70Y

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Oh yeah, I laughed when I saw that the first time. So bad.

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what a weird topic! i had strong negative reactions to both signs and the ring when i originally saw them

the ring was cheap jump scares, and signs was a rough religious allegory that didn't make any logical sense

granted, since then i've learned to enjoy things that don't make any sense or are bad, so maybe i'd like them on a second viewing

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I saw these movies as a very early teen, so obviously their position in my mind is very different. All religion was to me was boring shit I was dragged to every Sunday, and The Ring was the first horror movie I had ever seen.

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banananor posted...

the ring was cheap jump scares

Okay, well I recommend watching it again because this is outright false. And I saw it again just a few months ago. It's got a hell of a lot more to it than "jump scares". It admittedly has a few, but it's honestly a very well-crafted horror movie that I find it weird people are dunking on it like this.

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Oh shit yeah that scene
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Signs is bad, but so is the Sixth Sense. Really, his only good movie was Unbreakable. The Village is passable.

PrivateBiscuit1 posted...

It's got a hell of a lot more to it than "jump scares". It admittedly has a few, but it's honestly a very well-crafted horror movie that I find it weird people are dunking on it like this.

This. The only people who complain are the ones who shit their pants during the closet opening flashback. The whole movie is very atmosphericly creepy, and few horror movies really do it quite like it, including the Japanese original. Its doubly impressive that a PG-13 movie is creepier than most R rated ones.

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I'll admit, I'm not the best judge of horror movies

My favorite titles in the genre are hereditary, drag me to hell, alien, it follows, and the evil dead series. I'm sure I'm snubbing some and will regret it later

Pure horror isn't my thing- i need it laced with something else to make it feel good to me- different strokes and all that

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TomNook posted...

who shit their pants during the closet opening flashback.

I made the mistake of watching this film in the middle of the night by myself. This scene caused me to 'Nope' hard and I went straight to bed. Watched it the next day in the safety of daylight lol.

For the record I love The Ring for the reasons you mentioned

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TomNook posted...

This. The only people who complain are the ones who shit their pants during the closet opening flashback. The whole movie is very atmosphericly creepy, and few horror movies really do it quite like it, including the Japanese original. Its doubly impressive that a PG-13 movie is creepier than most R rated ones.

I talked about it more in that topic I made a review of, but I also watched the Japanese Ring for the first time too and it's amazing how well it was adapted. Like, they managed to perfectly craft this movie to fit a lot of American tropes and made it appeal to an American audience while still keeping it true to the original. It really feels so much better than the Japanese version to watch to me.

banananor posted...

I'll admit, I'm not the best judge of horror movies

My favorite titles in the genre are hereditary, drag me to hell, alien, it follows, and the evil dead series. I'm sure I'm snubbing some and will regret it later

Pure horror isn't my thing- i need it laced with something else to make it feel good to me- different strokes and all that

This is also fair though! All of those movies you listed are pretty much a 9/10 onward for me! I often feel that some of the best horror movies are the ones where they put a real bite into them also. There's a reason the ones you listed are highly regarded by horror fans as well!

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