The latest spine-chiller from the man who brought you The Sixth Sense. Signs is about a former priest (presumably Episcopalian) named Graham (Mel Gibson) who lives with his family on a farm. The movie opens with the sudden and mysterious appearance of symbols on Graham's land made by cutting patterns into his crops. At first, Graham thinks that these are just the pranks of teenage hoodlums. However, he finds out that these markings are appearing all over the world. Soon strange lights also appear in the sky. Is this merely a well-crafted hoax on a huge scale? Or could it possibly be that earth is about to have some uninvited visitors?
Signs is both interesting and effectively creepy. It'll startle you more than once. But the story lags at parts; and it is neither as scary nor as ingenious as The Sixth Sense, which lagged very rarely if ever.
The movie does have an advantage over The Sixth Sense though. A spiritual one. While The Sixth Sense did have some interesting religious moments, Signs is more poignant. Graham is a man who lost his faith in God when his wife died in a car accident. Since then, he abandoned the priesthood and corrects anyone who maintains in calling him "Father". But as the possibility of alien invaders is taken seriously and the situation becomes more and more threatening to Graham and his family, he struggles with the faith he abandoned. The movie ends with a nice touch that I felt was very gratifying.
Signs is a good, enjoyable creepy movie. It may not be on the same level as The Sixth Sense,
but it is still worth seeing for those who enjoy this sort of movie. |
