10) The Signal
The trippy sci-fi thriller The Signal did not find much of an audience this summer. Even though the season is typically a prime time to release low-budget films in the genre – past entries include Moon, Another Earth and District 9 – mixed reviews and word-of-mouth did not help William Eubank’s movie.
Regardless, its trailer is both dreamy and unnerving, shifting from nostalgic glimpses of teenagers enjoying their summer freedom to more mysterious sci-fi elements. A terrific blend of action, mystery and romance, the trailer shows a lot of footage but remains pretty mum on actual plot details. Voice-over from an inquisitive Laurence Fishburne, asking of the protagonist’s earth roots and explaining of the dangers that await, only makes us more curious.
The ad does not give a lot of answers, but with haunting images and slowly building tension, it intrigues the audience to find out more. The technical elements of the trailer – the evocative cinematography, a spare and ghostly sound mix – only dazzle and disorient us further. Even if the final product did not give audiences the answers they may have wanted, that does not change the resonance of the film’s creepy, genre-hopping trailer.