Dir. Jim Sonzero, US, 2006, 90 mins
Cast: Kristen Bell, Ian Somerhalder, Christina Milian, Rick Gonzalez, Jonathan Tucker
Review by Matthew Rodgers
A “Pulse” is a constant beat that can fluctuate, particularly during the most exciting of action set-pieces, or more appropriately, the scariest of films. It is somewhat ironic then that a film with this title should flat-line from start to finish.
Sitting here now attempting to write the review it has become a real struggle to actually work out what was going on in this catastrophic mess of a film. What is clear amongst the poorly lit gloom is that this remake of 2001 Japanese horror Kairo centres on a university campus that is being plagued by evil spirits that pick off the students through the internets wi-fi connection. Seriously.
There are little or no redeeming factors to Pulse. The monster/spirit/clichéd Japanese ghost is revealed in the opening scene so any tension quickly evaporates. The CGI is extremely poor and as always with this technique in horror movies is completely unconvincing.
What may convince anybody to see this film is the fantastic pedigree of the cast but even they have no excuse. What possessed them? Kristen Bell from the brilliant US teen drama Veronica Mars exhibits none of her evident charm, and Ian Sommerhalder of LOST fame delivers a performance that will have you checking for splinters whenever he appears on screen. Add to the role-call of embarrassment Mr Ron Rifkin, and Brad Douriff who must have needed to fund extensions on their houses to sign the contract.
2006 has been a year filled with “must see” movies. Pulse is surely the first “never see” film. Not on the big screen, or dvd, and even late night television must you subject yourself to this horror.
Discuss this film here
|
