Pulse

This movie actually gives me the creeps. And, there aren't many that I can say still does after all this time. The source of the horrors is down right unsettling. They tried to best this version in the later remake. Failed, the atmosphere of the origional is much better. If you like classic horror, give this a chance!

This may look like a horror movie, but it is too well made and relatively tame to appeal to the slasher set. That being said, I think a lot of fans of 1980's horror will appreciate a lot of what this movie brings.It isn't really campy. The effects are very good; a great, focused effort. The acting is good, and the characters believable. The concept is very X-files. It's exciting and pretty clever. It's a tight little flick!I think this movie is probably underappreciated. A relatively unseen enemy is sort of a hard sell, I guess. But you know what, after seeing a lot of our old 80's horror enemies in high definition, maybe unseen wasn't such a bad idea.The idea here is that electricity running through the grid can form some sort of intelligence, and of course the first thing this electrical entity wants to do is murder humans. This movie was perfect for what had to be peak old-modern, post-cold war technophobia. Right before household technology really started to get complex.The blu-ray from Mill Creek is simple but very good, I'm glad to have it. This movie is rewatchable because of the 80's vibes, concept, and great execution.

I have a mental block...whenever I hear the name of actor Cliff De Young, I immediately picture Dennis De Young, former lead singer of the band Styx. So when I saw Cliff De Young was one of the stars of the film Pulse (1988), I thought to myself "Wow, I didn't know Mr. Roboto made a movie." Interestingly enough, Cliff did actually start out in the music industry in a band called Clear Light, in the late 1960s. Once the group broke up, he began appearing on Broadway, eventually making it into movies. Written and directed by Paul Golding (Beat Street), the film Pulse features, as I mentioned, Cliff De Young (The Hunger, F/X, The Skateboard Kid), who, as far as I can tell, has no relation to the former lead singer of the band Styx, along with Roxanne Hart (Highlander), and Joseph `Joey' Lawrence (Summer Rental, Adventures in Babysitting). Also appearing is Charles Tyner (The Longest Yard, The Outlaw Josey Wales, Evilspeak), Robert `Mike Damone' Romanus (Fast Times at Ridgemont High), and brother to Joey, Matthew Lawrence (Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Mrs. Doubtfire)...do the Lawrence's implement some kind of contractual obligation where depending on which one you want in your film, you must also take one of the brothers?All right, the film starts off with lighting striking a power station, and an odd surge makes its way through the system...well, I don't suppose that good for anyone. Following the power lines out, we're eventually taken to a Californian suburb, specifically the home of Bill (De Young) and Ellen (Hart) Rockland. Seems there's a disturbance, followed by silence, in the house across the street, and the police are called. What the authorities find isn't pretty (a dead body), but certainly odd (severe, electrical and flooding damage). Later on Bill retrieves his son David (Joey Lawrence) from the airport (seems Bill and his wife, David's mother, are divorced, and Bill has since remarried), as David is going to spend the summer with his father and stepmother. David's kind of a poison pill, as he's obviously not too psyched about spending the summer away from home, despite Bill and Ellen's attempt to make the best of things (I think David is in need of a kick in the pants). Anyway, some stuff happens and the appliances in the house begins to act all wicky wacky, at least initially around David. David learns a bit about what happened in the death house across the street from his new friend Stevie (Matthew Lawrence), and begins to put two and two together (to get six). Bill thinks David's fears are irrational and stem from separation anxiety, or something like that, but Ellen also begins to notice the strangeness. Soon afterwards, it appears a malicious spirit has entered the Rockland home through the power lines, and is now intent on killing everyone utilizing appliances, power tools, and what not as its weapons of choice. Will the Rockland's be able to `pull the plug', or will they get their fuses permanently blown by the malicious entity inhabiting the wiring of their house?I thought this movie was decent (in a TV movie sort of way), but I was a little disappointed the malignant force that came through the power lines wasn't a little more clearly defined...I mean, what the heck was it? A satanic spirit? Devilish demon? Pesky poltergeist? Spunky specter? I don't always need everything to be explained away, but given the amount of attention given to this indeterminate evil, some elucidation would have been appreciated (you can tell its evil because when it got into the television and/or VCR and messed up David's rental tape, and Ellen ended up having to buy the now defective VHS tape from the video store for $60...EEEEVIL!). While I though Cliff De Young did a decent job, I really didn't care much for his character, specifically in the beginning as it seemed the arrival of his son was more of an imposition at times rather than something he really wanted (both he and his wife Ellen seemed conspicuously absent much of the time)...in his defense, David was kind of a snotty kid in general (check out the scene where he's going to steal the family car and drive himself to the airport). I think the one aspect, with regards to the characters, that annoyed me more than anything else in this film was something I'd guess the director probably had little control over, and that was the casting of both the Lawrence boys in the film. The boys were supposed to be neighbor kids, but seriously, given their obvious, physical similarities, were we really supposed to believe they were just two unrelated boys from different families? I suspect when the filmmakers tried to cast Joey Lawrence, the Lawrence family and/or manager agreed only after foisting the younger Matthew (who was just a little too cute, for my tastes, sporting his soup bowl haircut) on the production. I really despise this sort of Hollywood nepotism, unless it actually fits within the scheme of the story (i.e. casting the boys as brothers within the story). I suppose it's unfair for me to take this out on the film itself, but it did stick in my craw. As far as Roxanne Hart, I thought she did well enough up until the point when her character started wigging out, with very little incentive. The basis for her freak seemed less than necessary, at least prior to the sequence involving her and the shower (the water heater kicked into overdrive). I think my favorite performance came from character actor Charles Tyner, as the nutty old man/contract laborer working on the death house across the street. His role was nothing new, as horror films often feature a curmudgeonly old timer issuing a dire warning based on some knowledge garnered solely on the basis of having lived longer than anyone else, but I never tire seeing it... Golding's direction works well enough (even if his story faltered a little), as he does manage to create suspense in a few scenes, even if the logic behind the scene wasn't readily apparent. If you enjoy countless scenes of a young Joey Lawrence sticking his nose where he shouldn't, extreme close ups on circuitry and melty solder, and appliances acting strangely on their own accord, then you're in for a real treat here.The widescreen (1.85:1) anamorphic picture on this DVD looks very good, and the Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo comes through clearly (hear that electricity crackle!). There are no extras included, except for a standard listing of unrelated trailers of other Sony Pictures DVD releases (Sony purchased the MGM library sometime last year) including the dreadful Frankenfish (2004), Devour (2005), Vampires: The Turning (2005), and the television miniseries Kingdom Hospital (2004).Cookieman108

An electrical force terrorizes a boy and his family. I remember this used to be on tv. Not a bad movie movie. Not to mention, it features a young Joey Lawrence in a good role before he made his crap poppy cd in the early 90s. Yeah, I said it, someone had too.

a well made scifi/horror movie

This is a pretty '80s movie which doesn't really push any boundaries. The characters are all pretty much one dimensional stereotypes. There's the divorced dad who is trying to build a career, a new relationship, and a future with his son, in roughly that order. He's dating the generic 80's woman who has a job and is smart and caring about her step son but still has womanic moments like emotional things and screaming every now and then. And the kid who is into baseball and skateboarding, what a big surprise.On the other hand its pretty baller to watch their house go ballistic around them and Charles Tyner plays a crazy old whack job who knows about what's going on and really sells it. He's the best actor in this thing because he's the only one obviously not taking it seriously and just having fun being nuts. The whole "intelligent killer electricity" basically lacks a motive other than torturing people to death and driving them crazy, and isn't really even a character. But it's a worthy predecessor to modern things like Final Destination and sci fi channel originals except those newer films actually made money for their backers. Which Pulse obviously didn't do.If for some stupid reason this movie were made today, it would star some teenagers and have government-conspiricy connections and things. Instead we get Roxanne Hart, who was 36 at the time this was made but she's still authentically cute instead of being fake sexy. She has a shower scene but again its the 80s so all the nudity is shoulders and up and implied. Which is still kind of hot.People who are jaded about horror movies would think Pulse is kind of soft and boring but if you like cheap made for TV stuff there's some pretty funny things here.

After a long long wait, Pulse finally gets released in the UK on Blu Ray.This is by far one of the most underrated horror movies ever. I loved this movie the first time I saw it and still do to this day. Unique and chilling plot accompanied by a fantastic score that generally makes this film a must watch.The Blu Ray was easily a must have for me. The quality of the Blu Ray is by far the best I have ever seen this movie, however it is not the best upscale i have seen. Picture is clearer but still sketchy and grainy. The audio is better than ever but again not brilliant for Blu Ray quality. For a low budget underated classic however it's still worth it. This movie deserves a higher fan base. £16.99 well spent.

Arrived in great condition

Bought the DVD a few weeks back and Pulse was a really good film.The case seems really cheap but it was only £3I give it a 7 out of 10 a classic old skool movie from the 80s.

I watched Pulse and it played well on my DVD player, nice packaging and remained in perfect condition.

Excellent