Well made, but was it satisfying?

Rating: 7/10 (16 August 2002)

It's now a couple of days since I watched Signs, and I still can't make up my mind about it. It is an extremely well made film with excellent cinematography and sound. The suspense is maintained throughout the whole film, but the outcome is disappointing. About two thirds of the way through, I found myself no longer expecting to jump out of my seat at the climax of any specific scene because most did not have a climax. Any tension that was built, just dissipated and fizzled out. With the exception of Mel Gibson's character, the acting was very good and believable. Mel's character, "Father", didn't seem real. At the very start he seemed overly suspicious, but totally unemotional, about the crop circle, but then didn't seem to react "normally" to the unexpected demise of a family pet. Most people would freak out whereas he took it all in his stride, with little or no emotion. This film was played using an old 50's method, where all the horror happens off camera, leaving you to your own imagination. If it wasn't for the inclusion of the relatively recent phenomenon of crop-circles, the film might actually have benefited from being shot in black and white. I'll be pondering this one for a while, or may have to go see it again.