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‘Broadcast Signal Intrusion’ centers around a James, video archivist who unearths a series of sinister pirate broadcasts and becomes obsessed with uncovering the dark conspiracy behind them. These tapes, revolving around a hooded figure in a terrifying mask continues to baffle James and as he goes deeper and deeper into this conspiracy, his life may be in danger. This film not only showcases a creepy noir mystery, but explores grief and the shape that grief takes in others lives.
The tone of the film is very reminiscent of ‘Chinatown’, a suspense investigation story not really centered around a detective so much as someone obsessed with finding out the answers to the creepy person behind the videos. Boy is it creepy whenever they show the videotapes. I used to watch a lot of YouTube creepy videos and a few of them featured when someone was able to get on the airwaves and disrupt the show by appearing in a creepy mask. I was particularly creeped out by this so to see that concept here is right up my ally.
The mystery unraveling in the second act is a little too slow, and you can lose interest in it until you are on the next creepy imagery or suspense. I applaud the attempt to bring in the noir tone and the music in it is really great for that ambience, but the mystery itself may be underwhelming or hard to follow for some. The ending is pretty impactful though, and makes up for the lag in the 2nd act.
Overall, ‘Broadcast Signal Intrusion’ is a unsettling mystery with a film noir flare that I had fun watching, albeit a little hard to follow in its plot.
