Pulse (1988)

Undescribable Perfection

Good movie but grossly overrated

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Late one night, Bill and his girlfriend Ellen were woke up by their neighbour who was yelling at the top of his lungs inside of his home. When the cops arrived, the man was dead and the house had wires hanging from the ceiling and the walls. We are then introduced to Bill's son David who is staying with Bill and his new wife for the summer. Pretty soon, David begins to see weird things happening to the television set in the house. The picture goes in and out, and it turns on and off on it's own. similar strange things happen to other appliances around the house as well. It quickly becomes apparent to both son and father that something is not right, and that an evil electrical "Pulse" is growing within their house.I got Pulse in the horror section, but it's more of a sci-fi/thriller flick. And a pretty good one at that! The plot of "killer appliances" may sound ridiculous, but 'Pulse' does a good job at making it realistic enough for a full length film. We see that the characters are in actual danger because of the electrical force, and that the pulse can cause serious occurrences such as gas leaks and water burns. The acting was a positive, Joseph Lawrence (who was at a very young age) did a great job in the lead. Cliff De Young and Roxanne Hart were great as well. Some of the special effects were effective as well. 'Pulse' takes us inside of the television at one point as shows us all of the wiring. It's done well.The bodycount is pretty much non-existent, therefore 'Pulse' isn't a much of horror film. It's an effective sci-fi/thriller film that is worth a look if you come across it.6/10

Although this film was kinda hokey, I did finish watching it. Partly, I was interested because the director got the idea from staying at my parents' house in the suburb of Norwalk, Ca during the Watts riots (we were married at the time). Too bad he hasn't done anything else since then as a director. Good choice of actors, I thought. Could it be redone with more modern CGI effects? Get his friend George to help? Make it a little darker, maybe, with a supernatural twist. Or, add another one of his ideas, which was that ideas are the fruit of an underground plant with roots connected all over the world. Perhaps that last would make a movie of its own. I'd like to see that one done.

OK,quick synopsis.electricity in people's houses starts going haywire.it starts whispering to people,driving them insane.it then takes over their houses,turning them into death traps and murdering them.notice i said murder,not kill.this is because the deaths are deliberate,not accidental.r-i-i-i-ght.obviously the whole idea is ludicrous.now, the implausibility of the basic premise could be somewhat forgiven if there were any reason or explanation given for what is happening, but alas,there isn't.no attempt is even made to explain the events.they just happen and that is a large problem.even a lame attempt would be better than none.and don't get me started on the ending.oh what the heck.the ending- makes no sense at all.the movie basically just ends.no loose ends are tied up.but there were some positives.the acting was decent,given that the actors had so little to work with.and there were some tense moments.not the worst movie ever made just not a good one. all in all ,an empty unsatisfying experience. a low 4/10

This film had great potential but ended up being a mediocre 'X Files episode'. There were interesting ideas about the sentience of machines and technology running amok but these were never fully explored. the acting was slightly above average for a dtv and the director did a good job of injecting an element of mysterious tension to the proceedings. Some elements however, were wasted completely, such as the shots of circuitry melting in to one another in the TV, making connections and forming an intelligence. The idea that appliances we use daily are increasingly getting sophisticated and most of use have little idea how they work and what they could be capable of becoming was mentioned briefly by the TV repair man but frustratingly never matured in to anything. However the decision to make the 'pulse' homicidal for no reason made little sense. Wouldn't somebody in government have noticed this by now ( or were we supposed to believe the patrolling police were 'in on it') and investigated the street?. A better idea would have been a govt 'A.I' got loose and in to the Grid and started growing and learning and developing in to something ...just an idea but they could have done much better with this plot imo.