The opinions on "Pulse" appear to be very diverged around here. Approximately half of the reviewers claim it's a very original and genuinely suspenseful thriller, whereas the other half thinks it's a ludicrous and far-fetched piece of rubbish. Even the rating is exactly 5.0 out of 10 at this particular moment, so I guess it's safe to say this is a film you either love or hate. I must admit I belong in the first camp. The basic idea of electrical impulses suddenly developing homicidal tendencies may indeed sound a bit grotesque and implausible, and the complete lack of valid explanation is most unfortunate, but generally speaking "Pulse" contains more positive aspects than negative ones. For starters, the continuously high level of suspense. This might very well be the horror film with the absolute lowest death toll of the entire 80's decade, and yet it didn't bother me for a single second because the tension was constantly there and often even nearly unbearable. There's only one fatality, at the very beginning of the movie and even appearing off-screen, still you'll be sitting on the edge of your seat more than once. This is also one of the rare 80's genre films where you honestly care for the lead characters and actually don't want for them to die! The leads are a three-headed suburban family, existing of the father, son and stepmother. The son joins his father and his sympathetic new wife during school holiday, but quickly notices something isn't kosher in the neighborhood. And David is right, as a seemingly intelligent electrical pulse is gradually taking over all the circuits and transforming electronic devices into murderous machines. The same thing overcame their neighbor, but everybody just thought he was crazy. Writer/director Paul Golding definitely had some bright ideas when making this film, and it's admirable that he was resistant to turning this into a bloody carnage flick. Oddly enough, the sight of melting circuits and vibrating wires is a lot scarier than I thought. "Pulse" features some extremely powerful sequences, like Roxanne Hart in the shower and Cliff De Young narrowly escaping death by electrocution in the flooded kitchen. Roxanne Hart depicts the most lovable female horror character I've seen in years! She's the most atypical stepmother imaginable: gorgeous, friendly, helpful and intelligent. She almost immediately believes the drivel about electric terror, and that's not common in horror films. "Pulse" is definitely an underrated 80's horror/thriller gem.
