Pulse (2006)

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

If you are a (horror-)genre-fan then a screening is entertaining, but do not expect too much. Mostly, it's style over substance.The visual effects are good, but not outstanding. The main weak point is the story. The story is - compared to the US-"Ring"-Remake - much weaker, more illogical, confusing and much more worse explained. So, mainly, it lacks a new, genuine idea which could lie beneath the horror. The ghosts and attacks are scary, but unfortunately the background is not, it's just not profound enough.I must say that I'm not a particular fan of Kristen Bell. She is okay in the role, but I'm not enthusiastic about her. The other actors are okay, too.Maybe the alternate ending/deleted scene on the DVD can compensate for the weaknesses of this movie, at least a bit.

I initially watched this movie because of Ian Somerhalder starring in it. I just downloaded it to have seen all his movies and was gladly surprised. The movie IS a successful remake unlike some others, and the cast was great. It wasn't really scary (or maybe I'm just used to scarier things), but it did keep me tense till the end. I have to congratulate the movie makers, especially the director, for the great solutions they have come up with. And it's really good that after all Bell was cast here instead of Dunst, she is much better of an actress and I liked THAT Mattie better next to Dexter. Speaking of, the reason I watched the Pulse was Ian Somerhalder, and I was very glad to see him out of his usual "Look how fun, smart, cool and hot character I am" pose. Hell, that man is good! Not many can so perfectly shift absolutely different personalities we see him play in Pulse, Tournament and Vampire Diaries, and be a completely different person in real life at the same time. Say HE IS GOOD!

Pulse is a remake of a 2000 Japanese horror film of the same name, but after seeing the American remake, I am scared to see the original (and not in the way the filmmakers intended). The movie is so dry and lifeless that it is impossible to get anything but a few minor cheap thrills out of it. Whatever feel the director wanted to extract from this dry film whether it be unease or sorrow I do not think he accomplished. These horror filmmakers are not making it loud and bloody, but quiet and dull. Even slasher flicks have more excitement than this dry piece of boredom. It's as if the director and screenwriter Wes Craven think they are making a Hitchcock film.

Josh (Jonathan Tucker), a computer hacker, breaks into a novelty IT facility, which by pure chance has created a computer virus that invokes the dead. By hacking into the joint Josh unwittingly releases the virus into the world and is soon to become one of the first victims, when an undead phantom steals his lifeforce. His university girlfriend Mattie (Kristen Bell) worried about the lack of contact from Josh decides to visit him at home. There however she only finds a lifeless shell of her boyfriend, who after a short chit chat decides to end his decrepit existence. Preferred suicide: hanging. This however is just the beginning, as the end is the end of the world as we know it...Probably said a bit too much in the intro, but truthfully it won't really matter, as the plot is essentially quite absurd. It either catches on to you or it doesn't. In my case I admire the intention, but must wallop the execution. The script doesn't hold up well to the Japanese original and basically takes on the form of the teenage horror flick with an end of the world twist. Also a lot of the scenes seem forced, especially those with computers turning themselves on or running without power.The biggest no-no is the big finale, where our hero (a random guy called Dexter, who comes to Mattie's aide) has a chance to destroy the contagion by installing a special code made by Josh that would destroy the original programming. This initially works, but soon the system starts rebooting. A logical conclusion would be to try to pull the plug before that happens. But Dexter decides to run...Additionally there is almost total lack of character building with stereotypes being given free reign in the pic. Basically we are rushing through the story until we reach a rather subpar conclusion. But well...Not all is bad. There are scenes that work and the special effects are really adequate to the scare in hand. Here and there you find very nice ideas behind the movie, but just not enough of them to push the film into the 'good zone'.