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‘Signs’ Was Released 14 Years Ago Today

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Signs 14th Anniversary

At the turn of the century, there was no director who was more popular than M. Night Shyamalan. After directing the Rosie O’Donnell film Wide Awake in 1998, he unleashed The Sixth Sense upon the world in 1999. That film is regarded as one of the greatest horror movies of all time, and that is mostly thanks to the twist ending. This isn’t to say that the film doesn’t stand up on its own apart from the twist. It absolutely does, but the consensus is that the twist is the most memorable thing about the movie. The success of that film would be both a blessing and a curse for Shyamalan, who set incredibly high expectations for all of his subsequent films.

After the enormous success of The Sixth Sense, Shymalan wrote and directed the Bruce Willis/Samuel L. Jackson superhero movie Unbreakable. While critical reaction was mostly positive, audience reception was lukewarm at best. The film has since gained a rather sizable cult following, but in 2000 it was considered a creative disappointment despite earning back over three times its budget.

Two years later, Shyamalan returned with Signs, starring Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix and a very young Abigail Breslin and Rory Culkin. Released 14 years ago today, Signs had a lot of buzz leading up to it’s premiere. It wouldn’t be until after Lady in the Water when Shyamalan truly started to become the butt of every joke in Hollywood. Signs received critical acclaim (it’s his second best-reviewed film), with many praising it for it’s buildup and level of suspense while criticizing its payoff.

The payoff, of course, is the half-assed attempt at a twist during the film’s climax. As many of you probably already know, the aliens who are attempting to take over the world have a severe allergy to water, an element that makes up 71% of the earth’s surface. It certainly makes them seem a lot less intelligent than you would think they would be. As misguided as that twist was, the rest of the film does hold up. It is also home to one of the greatest jump scares in cinema history. If there is one thing to be said for Signs, it’s that it shows the “less is more” approach can work wonders for a film. There are hardly any jump scares in the film, which is why the alien’s reveal is so effective.

The film also boasts strong performances from the entire cast. Mel Gibson is good, but the film belongs to Phoenix. Early career performances from Culkin and Breslin are also impressive. One thing that Shymalan has always excelled at is injecting a brooding atmosphere into his films. Even trash like The Happening does a pretty decent job at creating an atmosphere for its killer plant world.

Made on a budget of $72 million ($3 million less than that of Unbreakable), Signs was a huge success. It grossed $227.9 million domestically and $180.2 million internationally for a worldwide total of $408.2 million. While the opinion on the film has cooled in the 14 years since its release, it is still notable for being Shyamalan’s second highest grossing film after The Sixth Sense.

I remember seeing Signs with my uncle when on one of my annual summer trips to visit my grandparents (I was 13). I thought it was fine at the time but it’s one of those movies where I like it a little bit more each time I watch it. What are your thoughts on Signs? Do you think it’s Shyamalan’s last good film (I was a huge fan of The Visit, which proved to be equally as divisive)? Or are you not a fan? Share your thoughts and memories on the film in the comments below!

A journalist for Bloody Disgusting since 2015, Trace writes film reviews and editorials, as well as co-hosts Bloody Disgusting's Horror Queers podcast, which looks at horror films through a queer lens. He has since become dedicated to amplifying queer voices in the horror community, while also injecting his own personal flair into film discourse. Trace lives in Austin, TX with his husband and their two dogs. Find him on Twitter @TracedThurman

Editorials

‘Phantasm’ – Why the Horror Classic’s Exploration of Death Still Resonates 45 Years Later

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As Benjamin Franklin famously wrote, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

The horror genre offers a controlled environment in which viewers can reflect on their own morality, whether it be via catharsis or escapism, but a personal loss can complicate one’s relationship with horror. Even the most hardened of fans may struggle to find comfort in the genre after experiencing the death of a loved one.

45 years ago today, Phantasm helped viewers confront death head-on while subtly exploring the grief that accompanies it. In the film, 13-year-old Mike (A. Michael Baldwin) convinces his older brother-turned-guardian Jody (Bill Thornbury) and their affable neighborhood ice cream man, Reggie (Reggie Bannister), to investigate a mysterious mortician dubbed The Tall Man (Angus Scrimm).

Phantasm was the third feature from writer-director Don Coscarelli (The Beastmaster, Bubba Ho-Tep). The seed was planted upon witnessing the audience react to a small jump scare at a preview screening for his previous effort, the 1976 coming-of-age tale Kenny and Company. Chasing that jolt of adrenaline, he challenged himself to make a movie that delivers scares regularly throughout.

The independent production was shot in 1977 on weekends over the course of nearly a year in and around southern California’s San Fernando Valley. The 23-year-old Coscarelli shrewdly rented the film gear on Fridays and returned it Monday morning, getting three days of work out of a single day’s rental fee. When all was said and done, the film cost an estimated $300,000.

Unable to afford a full crew, Coscarelli also took on director of photography and editing duties. His father, Dac Coscarelli, receives a producer credit for providing a large chunk of the film’s funding. Additional financing was invested by doctors and lawyers, accruing a total estimated budget of $300,000. His mother, Kate Coscarelli, served as production designer, wardrobe stylist, and makeup artist under different pseudonyms, and she later wrote the novelization.

Hot off the success of John Carpenter’s Halloween, AVCO Embassy Pictures purchased Phantasm for distribution. It was released on March 28, 1979 in California and Texas before expanding to other territories and becoming a box office success. It spawned four sequels, with Coscarelli and the core cast on board throughout, along with a cult following that counts Quentin Tarantino, Rob Zombie, Snoop Dogg, and JJ Abrams (who named Star Wars: The Force Awakens‘ Captain Phasma in its honor) among its ranks.

PHANTASM Remastered

The film embraces nightmare logic – in part by design, as Coscarelli drew influence from Suspiria; partly the result of extensively editing down an overlong first cut to a tight 89 minutes. The it-was-all-a-dream ending is a rare one that doesn’t undermine the entire movie that preceded it. Not every plot point is spelled out for the viewer, and some dots may not completely connect, but the narrative is conveyed in such an engrossing manner that it hardly matters.

A particularly striking pair of back-to-back sequences occur at the conclusion of the first act. Following a late-night graveyard excursion, the camera pulls out on a shot of a sleeping Mike to reveal his bed in the cemetery with The Tall Man poised over him while ghouls attack from their graves. The next day, Mike witnesses The Tall Man affected by the chill of Reggie’s ice cream truck via a spine-tingling slow-motion zoom.

The special effects also shine, from flying metallic spheres that suck the blood out of victims’ heads to lifelike severed fingers that bleed viscous yellow gore. The visuals are supplemented by progressive music composed by Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave, to whom Coscarelli recommended electronica maestro Vangelis and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. Despite its repetition throughout the film, the power of their haunting musical theme is never diluted.

The cast was populated by amateurs, but occasionally hammy performances are far outweighed by naturalistic character moments, best exemplified by the scene in which Jody and Reggie jam on their guitars together. In addition to serving the plot by introducing the tuning fork that plays an integral role in the finale, it allows the viewer to better connect with the characters, thereby making their peril all the more frightening.

It’s character building like this that makes Phantasm‘s exploration of death so effective. The film is ultimately about Mike coming to terms with the passing of Jody, portrayed as the cool older sibling every adolescent wishes they had. Mike confronts his fear by dreaming up a final adventure with his dearly departed brother in which they manage to defeat death itself, represented by The Tall Man. Upon doing so, he’s awakened to the harsh reality that Jody died in a car accident, allowing Mike to reach the final stage of grief: acceptance.

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