Ten years into the future, film makers finally devised ways for characters to not get a signal in a horror movie ... until all phones started having satellite features, which sent them right back to square one. Thirty years later, they finally got around that problem ... until all the pervasive cellphone use starting giving humans psychic powers, and they were back to square one again.
I come 10 years into the future to tell you for the most part its still a cliché. Sometimes they'll say 'Oh the killer has a jammer' or 'its supernatural bullshit' but its still the same old excuse.
Horror movies can still work. I mean, how many of us automatically ring the police because we hear a strange noise or something. Not many, I think it only becomes a problem when the character sees the killer and then yeah the mobile is a problem but for ghost and zombies movies; it's not.
I have a theory. All horror movies are set in the same same universe on another planet. The planet has horrible cell phone reception and everyone makes dumb choices.
I don't know if you are joking or not, but that is not true. Cell phones don't have the power ot the antenna to be able to send something to a satellite (they can, of course, receive some radio signals from satellites, e.g. GPS data). But you don't have to have a cell phone plan in order to call 911 (or better said: 112, which is the universally agreed upon emergency line on any cell phone all around the world). If you call 112 (or 911), your phone will do it's darndest to connect to any available cell phone network to make the call go through.
I have always thought that "Shrooms" had a good cop-out on the mobile phone dilemma. Being told to give up phones, so when the teenagers are high, they don't call their parents or sth when panicking.
LMAO Awesome!! To those ridiculing movies that do this: ALL movies in all genres have standard plot devices. Think about your favourite type of movie, be it romance, sci fi, comedy etc. They all have elements considered "cliche" or overused but are essential for story to progress. It's not a bad thing. Just interesting. Using "no signal" doesnt mean the movie is "dumb" it's just a very obvious horror device so it's funny - the first person who thinks of a better way round it will be a hero. :D
At least one of these is wrong. Federal law requires ALL cell phones, even if not initialized, not assigned a number or even stolen, it MUST be able to call 911, A phone, even if it supposedly is to receive calls only is REQUIRED BY LAW to be able to call 911.
It's the manufacturers or the networks that would have to ensure 911 can always be dialled, as per the law. It's not down to individuals like the saw murderer. It's a flaw in the movie.
i wouldnt say it's total cliche for the no signal line in movies. i remember about 5-7 years ago at my old house i could never get a signal with verizon. i had to open the front door and stand there or sit on the porch to receive or send texts and calls. either things got better or it's just because i moved.
You are awesome for having watched The Signal. If other people watched it, they'd realize that in context, it's not like those other overused plot-devices and is actually a key point in the main plot itself. I also like how you didn't credit The Ruins at the end. The book was amazing though.
In the kind of film where they're trapped in a huge forest/desert/mountain range, in the rain, at night you could perfectly feasibly have them call for help, then show the occasional cutaway to a search attempt that's bound to take a while. Could even add some suspense if done well, since it puts a vague time limit on the threat. Two examples; Open Water and Flight of the Phoenix, in both of which the protagonists know someone's looking for them but also know it's gonna take ages.
You still need a signal to be able to call 911. Only after you've called them can they possibly use GPS satellites to trace your location, but the only way GPS satellites are involved is to pinpoint your location. 911 calls will go through on any reachable network or provider if regular service isn't available, like 2G, Edge, etc. But if you're too far from the nearest cellphone tower to get a signal, you cannot reach 911. Something to keep in mind if you're ever stuck in the middle of nowhere.
This is great! From the montage, I finally see a trend, it's either a horror film where everybody that has no signal dies or they are lost on an island, forest, desert, etc. and they still don't have a signal xD lol good times!
Ought to add Dark Floors to this list. The movie may not be a box office blowout, but the cell phone no-service scene is fucking FANTASTIC (best I've ever seen, including all the scenes you just showed here!).
I'd love to see a twist on this where one of the victims actually gets a signal and gets a call through...then promptly disappears. Then at the end of the film when everyone else dies we learn...that guy disappeared because he was rescued and ends up being the only survivor as a result. Possibly with a comment about the rest being stupid for not using their phones. :-)
You know though, it seems that every time I'm stuck in a crappy situation, the same thing happens. 1. Stuck in the woods overnight, ONE bar on signal and ONE bar on battery life. Signal goes first, then battery, I spend the night in the woods. 2. Car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, FULL battery. ONE signal bar that comes and goes. Doesn't stay long enough to complete the call. I reach someone, but before I can give an address. NO BARS! ... I've got plenty more, but I"m out of room here...
ALSO IN HORROR MOVIES, when people can communicate they just NEVER GET THE WORDS OUT...Somebody will think Jimmy is the killer, but they just sit there with a worried look on their face...Or, they notice a zombie bite mark on somebody but just can't get around to mentioning it to anybody else in the car...The list goes on and on.
2016 and I still see horror movies pulling this bullshit cliche out of their asses. The only time I can't get a signal is when I am 5 floors below a parking lot garage. I can get a signal almost anywhere. Even in the middle of fucking nowhere.
And alternative as well--the victims have a clear signal, they call the local 911 for help...and don't learn until too late that the local cops and rescue crew are in on the plot...
Don't forget "The Objective", Myreck's follow-up to Blair Witch Project. Those soldiers have some serious telecommunications gear and still can't get bars.
this is the opposite for me, i have like 2 bars when im at my house but in the woods behind my house i have full bars and anywhere else in the middle of nowhere, hmm maybe they should all switch to Sprint
This was an actual problem just back in 2005 or so. I remember going out to a small town in the middle of nowhere and i could only get a one bar signal after climbing a small mountain
@codebreaker2001 Also in Eight Legged Freaks, he is able to use the phone, granted he has to climb to the top of a transmission tower to do it, but it's still a signal.
Haha I wish they'd included that moment in Final Destination 2 where this kid at the pool barely splashes water on the guy's phone, and it acts like its power has been shorted out or something rofl.
It really should be noted that some of these are justified. The two that come to mind are The Hills Have Eyes- having driven though shithole middle-of-nowhere New Mexico, I can attest that your chance of getting a signal is low. As for the film The Signal (which is very good), all electronic devices are effected by a Signal that drives people crazy. She was getting a signal, just a very evil one.
yeah, i agree, but what else are you gonna do, everyone has a cellphone, so it's that, not finding the phone, having it break, dead battery... Burt i have to admit that Sam Raimy used a cell phone really well in Drag me to Hell
That's so funny..In one scene he is talking on a cell phone and saying no one can get a signal!!!! They only work when you don't need them to apparently.
I just wanna say that the example in Saw V is kinda justified, seeing as Hoffman had his phone turned off so that they wouldn't pick it up until he WANTED them to.
this is why i dont make calls in deserts, cars, rainy days, forests, ancient ruins, old cabins, moving cars, forest parties, the south,caves, next to cell towers or on days when my punk attitude requires i not pay my phone bill
Another way that they can elude cell phones is by always setting the movie pre 90's...I think this is the best option rather than some ridiculous writing to get by.
I think in most situations people would call 911 as opposed to 'friends'. The thing is, then would the police/sheriff/what have you be from some small town and totally corrupt i.e. Cabin Fever, or would he be some rookie i.e. Scream, etc..... To me it all comes down to how the cell phone is used, maybe they can't get a decent signal to call for help, but can get intermittent reception to send text messages...
To be fair, if they had signal, the movie would end after 2 minutes... But it still bothers me no one has yet found a way around that cliché in horror movies.
whats hilarious about this is Cell phones not breaking or having no signal is like a new horror/thriller cliche'. We all saw this coming a mile away, and now there's so many flicks that use this its down right funny as hell...
Remember to hold your iPhone 4 with your two thumbs on the top right hand corner. Or it won't work; it's in the manual in the small small small xxx small print. Haven't you read it? Steve Jobs - August 2010
It's like the Movie industry is terrified of the 'Don't let a Mobile Phone ruin your Movie' Orange guys. Perhaps someone needs to let them on-board, so we can have a horror without them feeling the need to destroy all phones. I mean, what are they going to do, call for help? Their friends / Parents / the Police can watch them be slaughtered on Video call.
oh wow some of those were just awful... trying to call 911 in the middle of the ocean!!!?!?!? but of course people's cellphones only lose signal in horror/thriller movies.
How did they make classics like Ben Hur and Gone With the Wind without cell phones? And horror classics? Halloween, Hellraiser? What used to be scary back then?
@TheCakeIsALie0 To be fair, not all of these movies actually use the cliche. The Eden Lake one, for example: the kid's lying. And Cellular at the end? The destruction of the phone was actually a pivotal plot point, since keeping the phone powered and connected was a big part of the film's plot.
Dropping the phone in water or breaking it is a better device.
This is what having sprint was like -_-
OH god thanks for this, this cliche makes me crazy in horror movies. You saved me the time of making it myself.
Ten years into the future, film makers finally devised ways for characters to not get a signal in a horror movie ... until all phones started having satellite features, which sent them right back to square one.
Thirty years later, they finally got around that problem ... until all the pervasive cellphone use starting giving humans psychic powers, and they were back to square one again.
I come 10 years into the future to tell you for the most part its still a cliché. Sometimes they'll say 'Oh the killer has a jammer' or 'its supernatural bullshit' but its still the same old excuse.
Horror movies can still work. I mean, how many of us automatically ring the police because we hear a strange noise or something. Not many, I think it only becomes a problem when the character sees the killer and then yeah the mobile is a problem but for ghost and zombies movies; it's not.
Sure, but once somebody go missing you better bet anybody would be calling the police. Even if there is a ghost or zombies.
Yeah that's true but in the The Conjuring 2, they rang the police and the police couldn't do anything about it
@@justmanic9673 tbh I think they should've just moved out that house
LOL @ "97% nationwide coverage and we find ourselves in that 3%!!"
Either the worst or best dialogue ever written. I'm going with "best."
Really the story of all movies lol
YMS brought me ear
Good point. One of the best scenes in Return of the Living Dead was when the zombies used a police radio to say "send more cops".
I have a theory. All horror movies are set in the same same universe on another planet. The planet has horrible cell phone reception and everyone makes dumb choices.
I made a dumb choice. Internet victim
this is why I loved The Ring. in that movie there's ALWAYS signal.
The funny thing is that you can call 911 ANYWHERE because it WORKS WITH SATELLITES NOT PHONE SERVICE!!!!!!
I don't know if you are joking or not, but that is not true. Cell phones don't have the power ot the antenna to be able to send something to a satellite (they can, of course, receive some radio signals from satellites, e.g. GPS data).
But you don't have to have a cell phone plan in order to call 911 (or better said: 112, which is the universally agreed upon emergency line on any cell phone all around the world). If you call 112 (or 911), your phone will do it's darndest to connect to any available cell phone network to make the call go through.
Verizon/Sprint Guy: "All the networks are great now..."
Horror movie filmmakers: "SHUT UP, DUDE!!!"
I have always thought that "Shrooms" had a good cop-out on the mobile phone dilemma. Being told to give up phones, so when the teenagers are high, they don't call their parents or sth when panicking.
Sexy as duck mmmmm
No wonder this is supposed to be horrifying. Most of these phones are Nokias.
LMAO Awesome!! To those ridiculing movies that do this: ALL movies in all genres have standard plot devices. Think about your favourite type of movie, be it romance, sci fi, comedy etc. They all have elements considered "cliche" or overused but are essential for story to progress. It's not a bad thing. Just interesting. Using "no signal" doesnt mean the movie is "dumb" it's just a very obvious horror device so it's funny - the first person who thinks of a better way round it will be a hero. :D
At least one of these is wrong. Federal law requires ALL cell phones, even if not initialized, not assigned a number or even stolen, it MUST be able to call 911, A phone, even if it supposedly is to receive calls only is REQUIRED BY LAW to be able to call 911.
Yeah, because the psychotic murderer of the Saw slasher series really, really cares about obeying that particular law.
It's the manufacturers or the networks that would have to ensure 911 can always be dialled, as per the law. It's not down to individuals like the saw murderer. It's a flaw in the movie.
One reason to leave theaters empty whenever a new slasher-horror-zombie-gore-splatter 3d movie pops out from a newbie's mind.
i wouldnt say it's total cliche for the no signal line in movies. i remember about 5-7 years ago at my old house i could never get a signal with verizon. i had to open the front door and stand there or sit on the porch to receive or send texts and calls. either things got better or it's just because i moved.
Coverage got better.
Jeff Darnell
The issues with the cliches is that they're overused.
You are awesome for having watched The Signal. If other people watched it, they'd realize that in context, it's not like those other overused plot-devices and is actually a key point in the main plot itself. I also like how you didn't credit The Ruins at the end. The book was amazing though.
In the kind of film where they're trapped in a huge forest/desert/mountain range, in the rain, at night you could perfectly feasibly have them call for help, then show the occasional cutaway to a search attempt that's bound to take a while. Could even add some suspense if done well, since it puts a vague time limit on the threat.
Two examples; Open Water and Flight of the Phoenix, in both of which the protagonists know someone's looking for them but also know it's gonna take ages.
A big thanks to everybody for the great suggestions! If anybody has more, please post them. They're great inspiration!
This overused trope always gets in the way of writing a good survival story :P
Emergency services still work with no signal.
You still need a signal to be able to call 911. Only after you've called them can they possibly use GPS satellites to trace your location, but the only way GPS satellites are involved is to pinpoint your location. 911 calls will go through on any reachable network or provider if regular service isn't available, like 2G, Edge, etc. But if you're too far from the nearest cellphone tower to get a signal, you cannot reach 911. Something to keep in mind if you're ever stuck in the middle of nowhere.
This must have taken ages to compile. Great job and nicely edited. Now get out and get some fresh air :)
Very well done!
This is great! From the montage, I finally see a trend, it's either a horror film where everybody that has no signal dies or they are lost on an island, forest, desert, etc. and they still don't have a signal xD lol good times!
3:33 - this scene is so damn stupid that it hurts.
Wow I'm actually really impressed by how much work this must have taken.
glad someone made a compilation, maybe they'll try something new in horror movies now.. the call for help is always the most predictable scene
Ought to add Dark Floors to this list. The movie may not be a box office blowout, but the cell phone no-service scene is fucking FANTASTIC (best I've ever seen, including all the scenes you just showed here!).
I'd love to see a twist on this where one of the victims actually gets a signal and gets a call through...then promptly disappears. Then at the end of the film when everyone else dies we learn...that guy disappeared because he was rescued and ends up being the only survivor as a result. Possibly with a comment about the rest being stupid for not using their phones. :-)
Also, we all fear losing or not having a signal or connection to the outside world, or at least our family and friends.
This is hilariously brilliant!
This should be an AT&T commercial.
Well edited, I laughed alot, thanks :D
You know though, it seems that every time I'm stuck in a crappy situation, the same thing happens. 1. Stuck in the woods overnight, ONE bar on signal and ONE bar on battery life. Signal goes first, then battery, I spend the night in the woods.
2. Car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, FULL battery. ONE signal bar that comes and goes. Doesn't stay long enough to complete the call. I reach someone, but before I can give an address. NO BARS! ... I've got plenty more, but I"m out of room here...
In the film Last Ride it's all about the cell phone. Nice use of it too!
ALSO IN HORROR MOVIES, when people can communicate they just NEVER GET THE WORDS OUT...Somebody will think Jimmy is the killer, but they just sit there with a worried look on their face...Or, they notice a zombie bite mark on somebody but just can't get around to mentioning it to anybody else in the car...The list goes on and on.
2016 and I still see horror movies pulling this bullshit cliche out of their asses. The only time I can't get a signal is when I am 5 floors below a parking lot garage. I can get a signal almost anywhere. Even in the middle of fucking nowhere.
I have no cell service in my entire town
I agree! I have been searching for a video like that for ages!
GREAT VIDEO. this was on Chicago News, by the way.
see, the cell phone didn't kill the horror genre like we were afraid it would, it just made room for more contrived plot devices. i'm thankful!
You know, I can at least buy it with "The Ruins" considering they're in the middle of a jungle and all. Just barely, but I can still buy it.
And alternative as well--the victims have a clear signal, they call the local 911 for help...and don't learn until too late that the local cops and rescue crew are in on the plot...
Don't forget "The Objective", Myreck's follow-up to Blair Witch Project. Those soldiers have some serious telecommunications gear and still can't get bars.
Also in horror movies cars never start, people trip and can't stand back up and just hang around an area where people are being killed.
Collateral should be on here for sure.
Yeah it made me so angry to see that these kids could get away with so much. I mainly hated the remote rewind thing...that was just evil.
Great Video.
Miss "What Lies Beneath" in which there is a big scene with Michelle Pfeiffer trying to reach the bridge for a signal
all those cell phone companies SHOULD BE FIRED
this is the opposite for me, i have like 2 bars when im at my house but in the woods behind my house i have full bars and anywhere else in the middle of nowhere, hmm maybe they should all switch to Sprint
All these people on road trips with dead batteries must have forgotten about the charger in their glove box.
lol I like the Saw one. "Wait a minute, this has happened before..."
They forgot to mention War of the Worlds's usage of no cell phones after the EMP.
This was an actual problem just back in 2005 or so. I remember going out to a small town in the middle of nowhere and i could only get a one bar signal after climbing a small mountain
LMAO at the Saw V one. NO SIGNAL FOUND in big bold letters. Hahahhaha.
Well this vid certainly proves that while the cellphone has certainly made lives easier, it hasn't done the horror movie genre any favors.
this is awesome.
if your phone lost its signal, you might just be in a movie
Can you hear me now? No? Damn.
Whoever made this video just ticked a box on a list of things I dreamed of seeing for my entire fucking life...!
@codebreaker2001 Also in Eight Legged Freaks, he is able to use the phone, granted he has to climb to the top of a transmission tower to do it, but it's still a signal.
Haha I wish they'd included that moment in Final Destination 2 where this kid at the pool barely splashes water on the guy's phone, and it acts like its power has been shorted out or something rofl.
It really should be noted that some of these are justified. The two that come to mind are The Hills Have Eyes- having driven though shithole middle-of-nowhere New Mexico, I can attest that your chance of getting a signal is low. As for the film The Signal (which is very good), all electronic devices are effected by a Signal that drives people crazy. She was getting a signal, just a very evil one.
I was just watching Jeepers Creepers and thought about this. Looked it up and 1st scene in the video is Jeepers Creepers.
Nextel walkie-talkie...works every time.
yeah, i agree, but what else are you gonna do, everyone has a cellphone, so it's that, not finding the phone, having it break, dead battery... Burt i have to admit that Sam Raimy used a cell phone really well in Drag me to Hell
The car won't start thing of the movies from the70's and 80's...never saw it this way.
Makes me want to get a satelite phone. Those things never fail.
gr8 showcase for overused hollywood cliches.
but that's the point, for a horror movie that's set on modern day, issue of "why don't they just call 911?" has to be adressed.
Cell phone jammers. High powered.
That's so funny..In one scene he is talking on a cell phone and saying no one can get a signal!!!! They only work when you don't need them to apparently.
This actually happens where I live, but that's the boondocks.
I just wanna say that the example in Saw V is kinda justified, seeing as Hoffman had his phone turned off so that they wouldn't pick it up until he WANTED them to.
this is why i dont make calls in deserts, cars, rainy days, forests, ancient ruins, old cabins, moving cars, forest parties, the south,caves, next to cell towers or on days when my punk attitude requires i not pay my phone bill
they could always just create characters that don't have cell phones. they exist. I SWEAR
Not only that but it has an extra dramatic title "Wrong Turn 2: Dead End"! :P
Another way that they can elude cell phones is by always setting the movie pre 90's...I think this is the best option rather than some ridiculous writing to get by.
And next... "It is what it is..."
If I were to make a horror movie.. people wouldn't have cellphones.
@Deavi783: I was going to mention as well that it's all horror movies in here, good call.
I think in most situations people would call 911 as opposed to 'friends'. The thing is, then would the police/sheriff/what have you be from some small town and totally corrupt i.e. Cabin Fever, or would he be some rookie i.e. Scream, etc..... To me it all comes down to how the cell phone is used, maybe they can't get a decent signal to call for help, but can get intermittent reception to send text messages...
Hitler: OF COURSE! DON'T YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SCIENCE?!
"And there came upon a time in which all of humanity searched for Signal... for with Signal, all will be saved"
To be fair, if they had signal, the movie would end after 2 minutes... But it still bothers me no one has yet found a way around that cliché in horror movies.
half of these can be explained by the eldritch energy of the monster-of-the-week tampering with the signal, the other half is poor writting...
whats hilarious about this is Cell phones not breaking or having no signal is like a new horror/thriller cliche'. We all saw this coming a mile away, and now there's so many flicks that use this its down right funny as hell...
sometime this could make an interesting phonecall
This is our tribute to all ubiquitous Mobiel phone & its role in advertising ... :)
"I have a powercable for it."
"Yeah, and I have a cigarette lighter that doesn't work. "
Always when someone says '1 bar' or any other kind of bars, I think of chocolate bars.
Mmm... :)
Remember to hold your iPhone 4 with your two thumbs on the top right hand corner. Or it won't work; it's in the manual in the small small small xxx small print. Haven't you read it?
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It's like the Movie industry is terrified of the 'Don't let a Mobile Phone ruin your Movie' Orange guys.
Perhaps someone needs to let them on-board, so we can have a horror without them feeling the need to destroy all phones.
I mean, what are they going to do, call for help? Their friends / Parents / the Police can watch them be slaughtered on Video call.
"Wait a minute.....this has happened before"
aah Turistas, i love that movie
every horror movie takes place in that 3%
lots of time involved. cool video.
oh wow some of those were just awful... trying to call 911 in the middle of the ocean!!!?!?!?
but of course people's cellphones only lose signal in horror/thriller movies.
How did they make classics like Ben Hur and Gone With the Wind without cell phones? And horror classics? Halloween, Hellraiser? What used to be scary back then?
@TheCakeIsALie0 To be fair, not all of these movies actually use the cliche. The Eden Lake one, for example: the kid's lying. And Cellular at the end? The destruction of the phone was actually a pivotal plot point, since keeping the phone powered and connected was a big part of the film's plot.
Some of these movie titles are horrors themselves!