31 Horror Films in 31 Days Challenge, Film Six: Signs (2002)

This is yet another blog-along post where I'll be blogging along as I watch another horror film as part of the 31 Horror Films in 31 Days challenge. This film promises gore, sexual scenes and horror so hopefully it'll be better than the last two films. Warning: Since I'm blogging my thoughts whilst watching the film THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.

These are raw blog posts. I start and I write until I finish without any editing afterwards. I just post the raw thoughts from the film as they occur. Enjoy,

I know this is kind of sci fi but it, of course, has elements of horror. I have personal reasons for watching this movie.


Here's my tweet synopsis of the film, I've been tweeting one with each film I watch.

#31HorrorFilms31Days Signs. Synopsis: Best use of tin foil in a film ever.
— Gabrielle Leimon (@GabrielleLeimon) October 7, 2013

OK so this is technically a film I've seen before but I watched it when it came out and I was a kid then. At the time I found it very scary but I'm watching it now to see how I feel about the film.

So I probably saw this film when I was about 10. As soon as it came out my friend and I went to our local corner shop and rented the film. Renting movies from that corner shop with my best friend remains one of my fondest childhood memory. I remember watching the film for the very first time. I was ten and, of course, still new to horror films. I remember watching Signs and The Ring. I think we may have rented them and watched both in the same night. I then recall being awake for most of the night whilst my friend slept peacefully like "can't sleep... little girls and aliens will kill me." Now, however, I'm pretty dead to horror films and it's rare that one even has an impact on me. I'm revisiting this film to see how I think of it ten years later. Let's go back to a time when Mel Gibson was, you know, less of a douchebag.

It's funny how they're wondering how people across the world could have potentially collaborated together to make these crop circles. It really makes you think how technology has changed since this film was released. Nowadays all it would take would be a Facebook, tweet or Tumblr post and people could get together and collaborate on some sort of fake crop circle gimmick.  Back then, however...

God, I'm now thinking of a time before the internet. I don't like it.


AWH ISN'T ABIGAIL BRESLIN ADORABLE?

I like that Mel Gibson's character, in a time of great trouble, lets his little girl keep the video tape of her ballet recital. Excellent parenting.

It's hard to watch this film without thinking of the Scary Movie spoof scenes of it...

N'awh. Joaquin Phoenix is cute when he's scared and watching a TV whilst hiding in a closet.
Tiny tin-foil wearing boy says the aliens are probably vegetarian because they'd recognise the benefits of such a diet. Does that make me an alien? It'd make sense.

I remember being freaked out by this found footage scene when I first watched it...

This clip, though short, is actually way more scary and effective than most found footage films that have been released in recent years. I've watched most of the Paranormal Activity films and they are so utterly boring to me. I think music really makes a horror film but also using just jump scares doesn't work on most people. If anything I'd rather watch something with an element of psychological horror, something that leaves you thinking. I was far more scared at the end of the stage play version of The Woman in Black than the film. 

Wow, that knife is super shiny. 

This film actually does set up some good moments of suspense in a very simple manner and delicately explores the impact of catastrophic, unexplainable events on individuals. I like that, since they don't really have answers, it focuses on people rather than scenes of wide spread panic. I like the elements of this film where people are just trying to cope with it, slowly becoming obsessed with any new information coming through. He kinda keeps the audience guessing and he maintains very human characters and situations.

Ahh, I appreciated the War of the Worlds reference. I like that they're reminding us of the importance of faith in times of crisis and that the focus of the film is more on the human psyche and how we deal with crisis rather than the surrounding events. I'm sure alien invasion films nowadays would be all about blood, guts, gore, special effects and action like in Cloverfield. That's OK but it's nice to see films that often something different. The dinner/refusing to pray scene is kind of heart breaking and I'd totally forgotten about it. It's just so utterly human and, in a film about aliens, it's so refreshing that they close to explore human nature as a contrast.

OH GOD NO.
I FORGOT ABOUT THIS.
THE SCENE

WITH THE DOG.
I CAN'T GUYS.
NOPE.
IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN.
NOPE.
NOPE NOPE NOPE.

Every time I've watched a film for the 31 Horror Films in 31 days challenge I've had my dog present and so any time something bad happens to a dog in the films or a dog is in any relative peril my poor dog is woken up and given unsolicited cuddles.

OH GOD, THE BIT WITH THE HAND AND THE COAL SHAFT.
No, I totally remember jumping to that 10 years ago. Shame I knew it was coming.

God, that's a beautiful moment. Rather than showing what happened you just see the torch on the floor and the feet of people running around. Ooh, I appreciated that shot.

When I was younger I recall my best friend saying that the scariest moment of this film, for her personally, was this moment when Morgan is having an asthma attack in the cellar and he doesn't have an inhaler/medicine and Mel Gibson is just sitting with him, trying to regulate his breathing and willing him to get through it.

OH GOD.
THE BIT.
WITH THE REFLECTION.
IN THE TV SCREEN.
Yeah, I remember freaking out to this too when I first saw it.
That bit is so well done.
I would have preferred it if they didn't show any close ups of the alien. When you first see it there's light cracking through the windows and the alien is more like a shadow. I think the uncertainty of it right there is far more terrifying. 

I find it a bit convenient that Bo kept all those glasses of water around the house for no certain reason and that ended up being their ultimate salvation... By the end of the movie this is what everyone is thinking...

You know what? I did like this movie. I'm glad I watched it again. I didn't find it scary, per se, but I did enjoy it and would watch it again. Maybe I'll watch it again in ten years time. The fact that this film is so organically human and the suspense doesn't feel too forced is utterly refreshing and is something I feel that a lot of film making has lost in recent years. Films are systematically created to certain patterns and in certain images of films before. Signs isn't like that. 

The fact that this film focuses on people, especially the strange crisis of faith that Me Gibson's character is enduring since the death of his wife, the film seems to almost be exploring something deeper than your average alien invasion flick. To me this film is very much about religion and holds very spiritual messages. 

His wife talks about how her death was "meant to be" almost alluding to the Christian philosophy that God has a plan for us all and that we die when it is "our time" to go. The film almost suggests that her death gives a solution in the end with the whole "swing away" thing and that people leave something important behind. It almost explores the relationship between science and religion, that if we are created in God's image what does that say about aliens. The death by water thing is almost representation of baptism and purity, the washing away of old demons. Mel Gibson's character and his family are dealing with their demons. The aliens, if anything, bring about a resurgence of faith in Mel Gibson's character. In fact that's how the film ends. We simply get a shot of Mel Gibson dressed up with his priestly dog collar on as if he is maybe getting ready to go to church. This film isn't focusing at all on alien weaponry. We never really have an answer as to why the aliens had come to Earth in the film. They seemed hostile but their intentions were certainly never made clear.

It's interesting to consider how different people view the situation throughout the film. When police are called to the scene to investigate the crop circles they assume it's some prankster kids on the loose. The people at the book shop assume it's some sort of hoax or publicity stunt to sell books. The guys down at the Army centre think it's an invading military operation from other humans with nothind extra terrestrial involved. The two children, Bo and Morgan, believe wholeheartedly that these are aliens and their UFOs. They go straight to researching, they believe with the pure hearts and minds of children. To Mel Gibson's character Graham they appear as a test of faith. When Graham is boarding up the house and preparing for the aliens to attack he tells the kids the stories of when they were born. When discussing Bo's birth he says that people saw her beauty and she was likened to an "angel" so, all imagery added up, it makes sense if her water is what saves them in some sort of allegorical, spiritual manner. It's almost as if Bo, in her innocence and with all her research and knowledge, knew to prepare. It's funny how the alien, when getting splashed with water, almost burns like a vampire; a creature repelled by that which is perceived to be holy. I mean hello, the aliens had trouble entering homes and getting past basic doors even though they were capable of intergalactic travel. The myth of not being able to enter a home/pass through a doorway also stems from vampire mythology. In fact I actually noticed that there was a moment in the movie where we were looking down and following their car from an aerial/bird eye view and there was a plus sign created from the landscaping in one of the gardens they passed. I'm pretty sure it occurred just after Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix had discussed the importance of Signs as if to flirt with the idea of Christian imagery within the film. The aliens in the film seem to come along, not as aliens, but as tools that force people into a leap of faith, forcing them to believe, forcing them to find themselves once more. I'm so glad I returned to this film with more critical thinking skills. I actually enjoyed it so much more than I thought I would.

You know what's funny? I wasn't planning on writing much about this film since I plan on doing two horror films tonight but here we are. Blimey, this is quite a long post, isn't it?

Oh well, onto the next movie...

That said, I still think that this is the best frame of the whole movie: