These questions plague James (Harry Shum Jr.) in Broadcast Signal Intrusion. Working as a video archivist in 1999 Chicago, he stumbles across a similar signal hijacking. As he investigates, he begins to discover the conspiracy behind them, which may help solve the mystery of his wife’s disappearance…

Feature Presentation

James lives a lonely life since the disappearance of his wife Hanna. He spends his days watching old home videos of her, and attending a support group, while his nights are spent archiving videos. He lives alone and rarely interacts with the group, his only real interaction being with his boss via post-it notes they leave each other. While archiving, he comes across a signal hijacking, and becomes obsessed, needing answers.

The film does an excellent job of evoking the nineties. From the tech and fashion, down to the chunky clicks and tones that the computers and video players make. It sets the tone well, with even scenes set outside in the day, seeming gloomy. Some scenes are lit by nothing but the computer monitor. The signal interruptions themselves are suitably strange, with a creepy mask, weird noises and echoes of the videos made by Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight. It’s the perfect amount of creepy and intriguing, with plenty of elements for the audience to dive into and interpret themselves. Fans of Censor and Archive 81 will feel right at home.

We Interrupt This Broadcast

The film does a good job of drip-feeding information at a good pace but does fall into a trap of many scenes just being exposition sometimes. The mystery itself is compelling, with plenty of twists and turns thrown in. The side characters are all distinct, with most having their own motivations for helping or warning James. Some of these characters get more development than others, with most only having a handful of scenes, as the focus is on James and the tapes. The dialogue between them can be clunky at times, but never enough to be distracting

Although the film follows a compelling mystery, not everything is fully explained. This will likely be divisive for audiences, as it does seem as though answers are likely towards the end. While there is plenty of information to piece together individual theories, there is little that is concrete or definitive. Some characters are deliberately vague or offer a conflicting account to another. Sometimes the answers given do not fit with what James already knows, raising further questions. In that sense the film gets you inside its main character’s head. Everything is filtered through his perspective, and the question of how reliable a point of view James can be is for the audience to decide.

Rating: (3.5 / 5)

Offering a lovingly recreated 90’s world and a compelling mystery based on real-life, Broadcast Signal Intrusion offers more questions than it answers, but shows the way people hold on to any hope after grief, however small. While some may find its lack of clear answers unsatisfying, others will enjoy the lack of them and the untrustworthy nature of those who give them. Like the tapes themselves, it’s the small details that make this so interesting.

Also Read: Video Nasties: The History of Censored Films In The UK

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The Oxford Dictionary definition of a “cult classic” is; a film which has “enduring appeal to a relatively small audience” and exists outside of “mainstream” cinema. Cult films consist of an eclectic collection; there is no set genre which these wonders stem from.

During Hollywood’s formative years, there was not a great deal of opportunity for films to reach cult status with the quick turnover of productions. However, this began to change with the introduction of Midnight Movie screenings. These often featured films which were considered too shocking for mainstream audiences. “Freaks”, the 1932 MGM production, was one such controversial feature of the midnight screening.

However, the status of the cult film gained momentum with the development of distribution. Whereas before, low-budget, non-confirmative films had to rely on midnight screenings to reach viewers, home cinema allowed potential cult movies to reach a wider target audience. Television channels began to provide their own form of the “midnight movie”, showing films that didn’t cost a lot. (This is actually where I remember catching my first glimpse of The Rocky Horror Picture Show – a cult classic which is firmly cemented as one of my favourites!)

This access to films only increased with the creation of VHS. Now fans could pass on the treasures they had discovered to other, like-minded potential fans. If a movie had been banned then this only added fuel to the cult film fire. Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of A Clockwork Orange gained such notoriety when it was withdrawn, meaning that any rare copies of the film added a particular magic for the cult following it amassed.

Much like A Clockwork Orange, the success of the cult classic seems to lie in it having some sort of controversy attached to it. As previously mentioned, these films often appeal to a small, niche audience and tend to challenge the typical conventions instilled by Hollywood. Many productions have reached the dizzying heights of cult status due to their focus on extreme, and often taboo, subject matters. The aforementioned Clockwork Orange had such graphic depictions of violent acts that it was withdrawn in the UK for  27 years after comparisons were made in high profile crimes.

Another way that a film can become a cult classic is by being so bad that it’s good. Tommy Wiseau’s 2003 film The Room is one such offering- it has been described by critics as one of the worst films ever created.” As a result, it has gained a massive cult following. So much so, that another film was created just last year, The Disaster Artist, to celebrate just how bad it is!

But what of those hugely successful films which have followings around the world? The Star Wars and Harry Potter franchises have gargantuan fan bases and have stemmed a multitude of sub-cultures such as festivals, conventions and even theme parks. Do these productions warrant the title of cult classic? Or do they fall short somehow? And if so, why?

Perhaps it is because these films have become so commercialised that they cannot be given the title of cult classics. Those films deserving of the title do so because of the microcosm that is their fan base; that “have you heard of this film?” moment. Whether you have watched the big blockbusters or not, you’ve definitely heard of them which is not always the case with those movies that are deemed cult films.

Some critics argue that the term has lost its value with it now being attached to any production which seems to break away from convention or challenge the mainstream. But the real cult classics will stand the test of time; that’s what makes them a classic after all.

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