The Signal (2007): A Satirical Take on Killer Broadcasts

Thanks for the added context. I’ll look into comedy or parody films that involve mysterious or cursed TV channels, possibly with names like “Channel X” or “Signal D,” and feature a paranoid, tinfoil-hat-wearing character. The tone you described—satirical and ‘fake serious’—will be central to the search.I’ll let you know once I’ve tracked down possible matches.

The Signal (2007)

The clues all point to the indie sci-fi/horror film The Signal (2007). In this anthology movie, every TV/radio transmission emits a mysterious signal that drives people insane and violent. As Wikipedia describes, in The Signal “all telecommunication and audiovisual devices transmit only a mysterious signal turning people mad and activating murderous behaviour”en.wikipedia.org. The film is presented in three parts (each directed by one of the filmmakers), and notably its second chapter is explicitly a black comedy about conspiracy paranoiaen.wikipedia.org. This matches the question’s description of a satire that is “stupid but filmed to fake serious,” spoofing the trope of harmful broadcasts (à la UHF, Bad Channels, etc.).

Conspiracy-Theorist (Tin-Foil Hat) Character

Importantly, The Signal features a paranoid conspiracy-theorist character (played by Scott Poythress) named Clark. Early in the second chapter, “Clark, Anna’s neighbor and a conspiracy theorist, soon arrives”en.wikipedia.org. In context, Clark wears a tin-foil hat and rattles on about government signals – exactly the “foil-hat hacker/nerd” archetype mentioned in the question. This character helps tie together the film’s satirical tone about secret broadcasts.In sum, the described film matches The Signal (2007): a low-budget horror/comedy about a killer TV/radio broadcast, complete with a foil-hat conspiracy theorist. The title even contains “Signal,” just as remembered. These correspondences make The Signal the almost certain answeren.wikipedia.orgen.wikipedia.org.Answer: The Signal (2007)en.wikipedia.orgen.wikipedia.org.