I remember watching this one a couple of times back in the 80's. I recall liking it. Having now watched it again for the first time since those days, I have to admit that it's not quite as good as I remembered. The main problem with this one is its central premise is pretty unscary. Electricity is not the most threatening of things and it's quite difficult to base a horror movie around the concept of evil electricity. The film-makers were possibly in a bit of a conundrum regarding this as well seeing as they ultimately offer no real explanation for these electrical impulses, although it is made clear that it comes from a lightning bolt that strikes near a power plant. To confuse things somewhat we have a guy who pops up and suggests that the electricity company are to blame for these pulses. At the end of the day, your guess is as good as mine.
The story is about a boy who moves back in with his dad and step-mum. A seemingly intelligent electrical pulse is turning some suburban homes in the area into deadly death-traps. The film begins with one such victim going mad as a result of this and destroying his home. Lo and behold, the same thing starts happening again.
Pulse is pretty unusual in that no one actually dies. This is extremely rare in horror cinema and the movie in general is very restrained indeed. Maybe too restrained but I appreciate the fact that this one was going against expectations. The only vaguely disturbing scene was when a character is scalded very badly when being trapped in a shower with the hot water on full blast. But the most well executed scenes involve close-up shots of melting electrical circuits. I suppose the fact that these were the best bits might go some way to explaining part of the problem with Pulse. It's a likable enough film with decent characters and performances. It's just not very thrilling and that's essentially the problem.
The story is about a boy who moves back in with his dad and step-mum. A seemingly intelligent electrical pulse is turning some suburban homes in the area into deadly death-traps. The film begins with one such victim going mad as a result of this and destroying his home. Lo and behold, the same thing starts happening again.
Pulse is pretty unusual in that no one actually dies. This is extremely rare in horror cinema and the movie in general is very restrained indeed. Maybe too restrained but I appreciate the fact that this one was going against expectations. The only vaguely disturbing scene was when a character is scalded very badly when being trapped in a shower with the hot water on full blast. But the most well executed scenes involve close-up shots of melting electrical circuits. I suppose the fact that these were the best bits might go some way to explaining part of the problem with Pulse. It's a likable enough film with decent characters and performances. It's just not very thrilling and that's essentially the problem.