In 1987, Chicago television was hijacked by a pirate broadcast. A few hours later, it happened again. An individual wearing a Max Headroom mask ranted enigmatically amid the distorted background; to this day, those responsible are still unknown. With Broadcast Signal Intrusion, director Jacob Gentry draws from that notorious incident to craft a horror-noir that equally straddles creepypasta uneasiness and paranoia-laden conspiracy thriller.
Set in 1999, James (Harry Shum Jr.) plays a Chicago video archivist grieving his missing wife. One lonely late-night shift, he uncovers footage of a particularly unsettling intrusion, showing a figure in a creepy white mask speaking uttering garbled speech and moving inhumanly. On its own, the recording is eerie enough, tapping into the same uncanny distortion of Ringu or the V/H/S series. But for James, there lies seeds of obsession in the broadcast; discovering a second recording and rumors of a third sends him and the movie down a labyrinthine rabbit-hole to find the intrusion culprit.
Cryptic mystery and metastasizing grief are the driving forces of Broadcast Signal Intrusion. A correlation between the broadcast dates and vanishing women grimly looms over James’ search, imbuing the ensuing investigation with dark potential. And as long as that potential remains hazy, Gentry’s thriller is at its strongest. The first half is Broadcast Signal Intrusion’s best half, thanks to the backdrop of its legitimately eerie recordings and simmering in James’ growing compulsion for answers. At every turn, mysterious allies offer clues, warnings and even a descent into feverish insanity that practically invites Lovecraftian curiosity.
But as darkened archive and apartment are left behind for Chicago streets, that sense of the unnatural and unknown is left behind as well, much to the film’s detriment. Backed by a jazzy score, James steps from techno-paranoia horror into noir conspiracy, and the tantalizing uncertainties of maybe serial killer, maybe cosmic, maybe madness grow distant. Broadcast Signal Intrusion enters a rut of non-answers and repetitive sleuthing, each step towards truth offering diminishing drama and underwhelming reveals.
To the film’s credit, Gentry’s direction remains strong throughout, finding a balance between noir grit and psycho-horror unreality. That contrast in style creates a looming vibe of unreliable oddness, where every new face and new answers could just as easily be a dead end, a sinister distraction, a nightmare-logic swerve, or just pure coincidence. Broadcast Signal Intrusion clings to that uncertainty right to the end, although by then it might evoke more annoyance than intrigue.
As the final act comes into focus, Shum’s performance is the last remaining strength amid an unsatisfying and pedestrian conclusion. But even his effective portrayal of grief, frustration and obsessive hunt for truth can’t save what feels like the safest and most unsatisfying end after such an intriguing start. Broadcast Signal Intrusion aims for cryptic conspiratorial confusion but its plodding obfuscation and increasingly uninteresting clarity results in a film whose best parts are far more evocative than its middling, muddled whole.
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