Why Signs Is M. Night Shyamalans Worst Horror Movie
The Big Picture
- Signs is M. Night Shyamalan's most polarizing film, with fans unable to agree on its quality or place in his filmography.
- The film's greatest strength is its unique style and direction, with well-shot visuals and effective use of silence for tension.
- However, Signs suffers from unintentionally funny dialogue and poorly-aged CGI aliens, which ultimately detract from its scares.
M. Night Shyamalan's Signs has persevered as the filmmaker's most polarizing film, as it's a thriller with scares consistently undercut by a seemingly unintentional goofy tone. Signs is somewhat of an outlier in the Academy Award-nominated director's work, as it is a movie that even the most dedicated Shyamalan fans can't come to a consensus on. Some suggest that Signs is the final film of the filmmaker's incredible win streak, beginning with The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. Others say Signs represents the start of the downward spiral for the director's filmography, as the 2002 feature would be succeeded by a rough patch of movies including The Village, Lady in the Water, The Happening, The Last Airbender, and After Earth. Thankfully, the acclaimed filmmaker would bounce back into the public eye with The Visit and Split.
Say what you want about all of Shyamalan's films, but he is a faithful auteur in every sense of the word, always sticking to his unique writing and filmmaking style. That style is Signs' greatest strength and its greatest weakness. It's an incredibly well-shot and well-directed thriller that makes full and effective use of its environment, with all of that being undercut by out-of-nowhere silliness and occasionally bizarre dialogue. On paper, this sounds like the perfect blueprint for a great horror-comedy. In the case of Signs, it makes for an admittedly very entertaining ride that only gets less and less scary over time.
'Signs' Works Best When It Creates Simplicity
It's a true shame how much Signs' hang-ups affect the final product because the film really has a lot of great things going for it. From a pure direction standpoint, M. Night Shyamalan completely knocks it out of the park here. A prime example is how the film utilizes music and sound, particularly when Shyamalan decides not to use it. The intro titles begin with James Newton Howard's remarkable score, but the rest of the movie (particularly the tense and mysterious moments) is almost completely silent. A simple yet effective way to heighten tension in any great thriller.
Another stellar aspect of Signs is Tak Fujimoto's stunning cinematography. Every frame and every shot (even the ones populated by the poorly-aged CGI aliens) is impeccably handled. There are so many stark visuals and colors that have become iconic over time, especially the infamous crop circles that inspired so many tropes in future alien films. All of this is further accentuated by some excellent pacing from Shyamalan, clearly relishing in taking his time to draw out a tense moment.
The few moments in the film that are clearly supposed to be humorous also work quite well. A prime example of that is when Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) goes to the pharmacy, and Tracey Abernathy (Merritt Wever) starts to lament her fears about the invasion to him. Graham's apparent annoyance with the situation, the old man comically peeping his head over his shoulder, and Graham ordering his family never to speak to Tracey all make for a great and fun moment of levity.
How 'Signs' Makes Dramatic Moments Unintentionally Hilarious
The Tracey scene is one of the few sequences where it is clear Signs is going for laughs, but other moments come across as more unintentionally funny (though admittedly, it's a bit difficult to tell, which is a whole other problem in itself). The primary reason for this is what consistently has been Shyamalan's Achilles Heel in his filmography — dialogue writing. Narratively, Signs has some great plot elements that inspire hope, like Morgan's (Rory Culkin) asthma preventing him from getting poisoned, which is very clever. Some dialogue choices also work despite being a bit silly, such as when Bo (Abigail Breslin) says, "There's a monster outside my room, can I have a glass of water?" Out of context that's a silly line, but knowing Bo is a young girl with an avid imagination, it fits into the film well.
Other moments don't fair as well as the dialogue often comes across as unnatural and bizarre. The sheer amount of times that the characters say, "Lionel Prichard and the Wolfington Brothers" is honestly astounding, sounding goofy every time Graham Hess says it out loud. Even goofier is when Graham and Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix) go to confront who they think is out there, only to scream profound angry ramblings like, "We're gonna tear your head off" and "Ah! I'm insane with anger!" Another bafflingly weird scene is when Merrill goes to get more information from SFC Cunningham (Ted Sutton). Cunningham recognizes Merrill from his baseball career and asks the incredibly normal question, "Why weren't you in the pros making stacks of cash and getting your toes licked by beautiful women?"
Though perhaps the silliest scene that greatly undercuts a crucial dramatic moment is Graham's final moments with his wife, Colleen (Patricia Kalember). Colleen was pinned against a tree due to a car accident but is able to have a few last moments with her husband. Doesn't sound all that bad on paper, but in execution, it is so unintentionally humorous. Firstly, Colleen's attitude about the situation makes it look more like she stubbed her toe rather than get hit by a car. Secondly, the dialogue between the two feels generic and manufactured despite the actors' best efforts.
The Aliens of 'Signs' Haven't Aged Well
The occasionally goofy dialogue of Signs can be forgiven, as they admittedly make the film an extremely fun and entertaining watch. There is however an even bigger problem present within Signs that has only gotten worse over time — the aliens just aren't that scary. Before going into why, let's look at the Xenomorph from Alien as a comparison. Though this fierce predator spends most of its time in the shadows of the Nostromo, once it finally does appear, it is a masterfully designed creature that is still scary to this day.
The aliens of Signs don't fair as well. Yes, Shyamalan does effectively tease the creatures for the film's first half, but that buildup feels wasted once we actually see these creatures. In another silly sequence where Merrill is watching a newscast, we finally get our first full glimpse at these extraterrestrial invaders, and it's underwhelming, to say the least. The being reeks of early 2000s CGI that has only started to look worse and worse over time. The frustrating thing is we see a practical claw of these aliens when Graham finds one in Ray Reddy's (M. Night Shyamalan) pantry, and this is a creature that really could have benefited from some more practical elements.
Another knock against the aliens is how they function in the film's plot. At first, poor effects aside, the aliens do have some cool elements, such as their ability to blend into their surroundings. Things begin to fall apart when we see they can't get past wooden doors. Hmm, okay. Then it gets worse when we see the aliens defeated by the world's military literally overnight (the fastest any government has ever worked). Finally, we find out that their weakness is water when they're on a planet where the majority of the surface is water. Sure, these aliens stink.
Despite these problems though, we have to admit it — we love Signs. It's thrilling, influential, and entertaining despite its admitted flaws. While it has its detractors, there are still many who justifiably place the film in the upper tier of M. Night Shyamalan's filmography.
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