Impulse (1974)

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

William Shatner may have perhaps gained his fame and popularity thanks to the "Star Trek" franchise and the approximately two trillion TV shows he appeared in, but seriously how many people know that this charismatic and widely respected actor starred in a handful of ultimately bizarre, cheesy and eccentric low-budget horror/cult movies?? Shatner appeared in the gritty hospital slasher "Visiting Hours", fought large uncanny spiders in "Kingdom of the Spiders", spoke the dead language of Esperanto in "Incubus" and got sucked into a Satan-worshiping clan in "The Devil's Rain". But the film that is arguably his most bonkers accomplishment is this over-the-top clichéd attempt at psycho thriller. The film itself is already quite ludicrous, what with its mundane plot and silly dialogs, but William Shatner single-handedly upgrades "Impulse" to the highest possible level of sheer bad-movie entertainment with his extreme overacting, flamboyant wardrobe and outrageous psychotic outbursts. Shatner depicts Matthew Stone, a clumsy swindler yet professional and natural born ladies' man who roams around Florida to pick up belly dancers, hotel receptionists and lonely widows with obnoxious pre-teenage kids. During the laughably melodramatic black-and- white prologue, we witness how the young Matthew Stone killed his mother's lover with a sword because he was acting violent. The event clearly had a gigantic mental impact on Matt, because now even as an adult he sucks on his pinkie and mumbles stuff about his mommy whenever he's stressed or becoming aggressive. The trauma nevertheless didn't prevent him from growing up as a fraud who lures poor women into handing over their savings for vague but so-called profitable investments. Troubles arise when the daughter of his new gullible victim, who already strongly opposes against the relationship, witnesses Matthew commit a murder. The grotesque highlights featuring in "Impulse" are almost too numerous to list: Shatner freaking out against a fat lady with balloons at a theme park, the extended murder sequence where Shatner fruitlessly tries to hang his former partner in crime (played by the legendary Bond villain Odd Job!) and subsequently chases him through a whole car wash or Shatner jumping around like a clown when threatening his next murder victim. The person responsible for choosing the protagonist's outfits (I sure hope it wasn't William Shatner's private wardrobe) should be sentenced to jail. The music is definitely exhilarating and the main love interest, Jennifer Bishop, is a stunningly gorgeous lady. I can't help enjoying all of William Grefe's film that I've seen so far… "Sting of Death", "Mako: Jaws of Death", "Stanley" and now "Impulse". They're bad, trashy and unbelievably cheap, but also fun from start to finish!

Well, most people would probably go into this film with low expectations; but I was actually hoping for something decent from Impulse, not because of anything suggesting it would be good; but simply because I often enjoy stories of murderers and savvy children; with the likes of The Stepfather, Julie Darling and Michael Winner's masterpiece Scream for Help being good examples of films like this one that I have enjoyed. Impulse certainly had the potential to sit alongside the aforementioned films on a list of enjoyable flicks of this nature; but unfortunately, something just doesn't work and most things about this film are a disappointment. The plot focuses on Matt Stone, a conman who makes a living through seducing lonely women and having them lose all their savings by way of 'investing' in his inheritance scheme. Stone is a broken man, owing to an incident involving his mother and a boyfriend of hers, which we see at the start of the film. Problems start for Stone when the irritating daughter of his latest victim begins to become suspicious of what he's doing with her mother...Impulse stars William Shatner, who, of course, is most famous for his role in the popular series Star Trek. I was never a fan of Star Trek, but I do like Shatner's work on cult films such as Kingdom of the Spiders and, more importantly, The Intruder; which mean he should be well cut out for a role like this. He actually does rather well in the lead role; giving it just the right amount of sleaze to work. The rest of the cast isn't bad either (with one or two exceptions...e.g. Oddjob), but the film falls short on numerous other areas, which masks the decent performance. The film is actually rather boring, which is quite a shock considering the plot and the fact that Shatner gets seen in a range of ridiculous outfits. It's really pretty standard fare; The Stepfather had a lot to set itself apart from just the central plot, whereas this film doesn't have much at all. It all boils down to the sort of conclusion you would expect too, like the rest of the film; there aren't many surprises. This isn't a complete disaster; it has its moments, but I cant really recommend that anyone goes out of their way to find it.

We begin our lurid tale with Shatner's character a preteen, sword-gutting some airhead bruiser that his slutty alcoholic mother brought home...flash to today(the mid-70s), and grown-up Shatner has a wardrobe of the finest wallpaper-prints and polyester leisure wear in history(you can almost SMELL the Aqua-Velva). His "thing" is swindling widowed women out of their savings and "offing" them(and occasionally going bonkers while biting on his pinky-finger). When the young daughter of one victim-to-be witnesses him grooving on his funky psycho-killer scene, a tense cat-and-mouse game begins.The unintentional hilarity of this film has become a thing of lore...and justly so. All that's saving it from absolute indignity is the strong performance from Ruth Roman(who brought professionalism to a few other gonzo sub-B films in her later career, like THE BABY, THE KILLING KIND, and DAY OF THE ANIMALS). Also, the juvenile role of little Tina is fairly well played, but her character is poorly written and occasionally quite irritating. Shatner sails out of orbit in an unforgettable blood-and-thunder performance which could make any Klaus Kinski role look restrained by comparison. This is "must see to believe" cinemania...a minor masterwork of utter disgrace that entertains for(mostly) all the wrong reasons.6/10

I'll never forget the first time I saw Impulse....I had picked it up at the local video store and rented it sight-unseen. After all, with William Shatner starring in a 1974 "b" horror film, how could I go wrong?From the opening graphics of the movie title ripping apart to reveal a close up of Shatner's face, the expression alone on his face was priceless...but joyfully, that is just the beginning of this masterpiece!!!The film is a gem, with Shatner giving 110% throughout, and also Ruth Roman ("Mama" in The Baby, 1974). The clothes, the acting, the slow-paced car chase through an automatic car wash....this movie is worth seeing over and over again!!!