M. Night Shyamalan's Signs is a family drama masquerading as an alien invasion film, and the horror movie's deleted scenes highlighted that. Here's everything that was left on the cutting room floor in Shyamalan's now-iconic movie.
Signs follows widower and priest-turned-farmer Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) after the day he found mysterious crop circles appear in his fields. Soon after the discovery, strange events begin to happen all over the world. Quickly, one thing is clear — aliens have invaded. After coming to this realization, Graham, his children, and his younger brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix) barricade themselves in their home. In spite of that, the threat comes kicking down their door.
In Signs, the alien invasion forces Graham to examine the gaping holes in his life. After the sudden loss of his wife Colleen, he rejected God and turned away from his previous calling as a pastor. He lost his faith and pushed away his loved ones. Signs' deleted scenes show the emotional side of Graham that was previously pushed down — the side that misses his wife terribly and values his family above all else. The combined running time of these scenes only adds up to about 7 minutes total. These moments would've further added to that emotional element that ended up driving the plot of Signs.
Signs deleted a number of brief moments in which Graham misses his wife. In the horror movie's climax, Graham and his family lock themselves in their basement as their last line of defense. They're down there for hours, so Graham begins to drift off. The deleted moments see him daydreaming about Colleen and reliving some of their moments together — watching her rock one of their babies to sleep and dancing together in the kitchen. At another point during the film, a deleted scene shows Graham tucking his kids in after a stressful night. Merrill is sitting outside the door, and the two brothers have a quick conversation about the tense situation happening around them. Graham ends the moment by saying he wished Colleen were there because she'd know what to do.
Colleen had only died six months before the events of the M. Night Shyamalan movie, but it doesn't feel that way in the movie. Her absence is felt but gets watered down by the presence of the aliens. The deleted scenes featuring Graham's memories of Colleen would've reminded the audience that her loss is still fresh. They would've given a clearer insight into what's going through Graham's head — he's trying to be both parents and deal with the literal end of the world, but he's still completely and understandably enveloped by grief.
Signs' additional deleted scene forces Graham to confront his mortality as he realizes he's been taking his surviving family for granted since Colleen's ing. This scene opens on a terrifying note — Graham and Merrill realize aliens have entered their home. The creatures attempt to enter through the attic door, but the pair sticks a tall wardrobe underneath it, trapping them in the attic. As the family heads toward their basement, the creature bangs the attic door against the top of the wardrobe repeatedly. They turn and run, just as a creature sticks its hand under a blocked door.
They stop on the ground level and Graham reminds Merrill of a memory from their childhood. Graham did this with both of his children in moments that made the film — it's like his way of saying goodbye. He finds a memory that encomes that person's strengths and what they mean to him. This was a well-crafted scene that was incredibly tense and still managed to come back to Signs' ultimate theme of family. While Shyamalan likely had no choice but to cut some time off the original cut of Signs, it's a shame these scenes had to go. They would've played nicely on the emotional aspects of the horror movie without sacrificing scares.
