Pulse (2006)

I would just like to say that you'd probably be better off watching the original. For reasons that make the Japanese version that much more powerful.

1) The Japanese version is set in a time period where the Internet is "new" so this makes for a much more mysterious set of events as people are still not use to the everyday aspects of the Internet.

2) Since this movie is another import from Japanese horror one could say that this is just another attempt to capitalize on the genre that Hollywood has created for itself, that of the imported/re-shoot/foreign film.

3) There is a certain aspect of desperation in the original as the director & writer try to convey the concept that despite technology we as humans are growing further apart and finding it harder to connect leaving us alone in a world full of people. So please for your sake, if you want to enjoy this movie go get the Japanese original. It's at Blockbuster, you can watch it in the comfort of your own home and if you don't like subtitles then put the dubbing option in the audio settings on...because the movie is worth it.

• Teno Dulina

Fmovies: Towards the end of Pulse, a US remake of the hit Asian horror Kairo, there was a moment which actually made me jump. It was a cheap mechanical scare that was totally predictable, but it still managed to jolt me. And I was grateful that it did, because it stopped me from lapsing fully into a coma.

After the dreadful American remakes of other J-horror hits such as The Ring, The Grudge and Dark Water, all of which did their best to cause my brain to shut down entirely, I did wonder about the wisdom of watching yet another. But I'm a fair man, and I like to give films the benefit of the doubt, so in went the disc...

Sporting a grungy, desaturated look, and nasty MTV style editing, Pulse is typical of the unimaginative and stale horror output that has blighted the genre this decade. The film, aimed at the teen demographic, does away with logic, suspense and a decent plot; instead, we get an easy-on-the-eye cast, some cool CGI effects, and a story that makes no sense whatsoever.

In this confusing tale, a hacker accidentally allows strange creatures from another dimension to come into our world, using communication devices as conduits. Once in our world, these things suck out our will to live, which results in people either disintegrating into ash, or committing suicide (and by the end of the film, you'll know exactly how they feel!). As these monsters slowly take over any part of the world in which technology allows them access, a couple of teens discover the existence of a computer virus which may be able to put an end to the evil invaders, but with red tape as their only protection (don't ask!), will they succeed?

Dreary cinematography, coupled with a dull-as-ditchwater script and uninspired performances from a bored looking cast, make Pulse an experience that I am not in a hurry to repeat. Director Jim Sonzero manages one or two visually impressive moments (involving the bizarre other-worldly freaks, which look like they're straight out of a Chris Cunningham video), but for the most part, he seems content to translate the illogical, badly written and plot-hole ridden screenplay into uninspired visual tripe, without giving a moment's thought to the fact that nothing makes much sense.

Here's another in a long, long line of predictable horror movies aimed at teens.

Like so many tired teen horror films before it, we get a semi-interesting premise that is never given the chance to take off the ground. We get a tried-and-beaten-to-the-ground formula that's becoming nearly a parody of itself. "Pulse" has the laziest of horror film ambitions: an endless series of characters making slow, deliberate walks to some sort of random objective (in this movie, it is usually a computer screen) with the steadily rising score beneath their paces. And then, the orchestra crashes, the sound effects are blasted at dangerously high levels, and something (ghost, corpse, animal, landlady, Dick Cheney, etc.) bursts out at the character. Over and over and over. If the characters aren't doing that, they are setting up an opportunity to do so. Again and again and again. Such payoffs are not payoffs. They are sudden, very loud noises that explode suddenly after rising, slightly-softer noise.

It's tough to tell whether the director is a cookie-cutter hack emulating everything that's been released in the last five years, or if he is just being ordered by the studio to emulate everything that's been released in the last five years. Either way, "Pulse" is a dreary movie with nothing to say and little thrills to share. Mostly, it's a take-off of "The Ring"...we get the always-overcast urban setting. A Naomi Watts look-alike as our lead. A lonely piano hits nearly the same keys as the above-mentioned film. And we get the quick cuts of single scenes. Instead of the mysterious video used in "The Ring", we get equally mysterious images in computer screens. At times, it has the disorienting sensation of watching a film student's class project titled "How To Make Creepy Images Like What Was Used In That Video In The Ring".

Throughout the movie, characters go through the motions as if they've just been locked in a room watching a marathon of awful teen horror films. They laugh, they grieve, they act confused, they act scared, they act concerned, blah, blah, blah.

A plot summary for those interested: an internet virus is rapidly spreading across a college campus. Basically, ghostly images appear on your computer screen, and then at some point in the near future, a ghostly image will sneak up on you and take what appears to be your soul. Thus, you are left very sad to the point of being despondent. After that, you off yourself. Or you just spontaneously combust into ash. Either way.

The better looking of our leads manage to doge the virus, unlike literally the rest of civilization, despite the fact that they are more immersed in the virus than anyone else. Funny how that works. Whether or not they succeed in stopping this ghost virus (if you're the screenwriter there's no need to explain anything beyond "ghost virus" when all you're writing are set-ups for characters to peek slowly into things) is for you to find out. If you choose to find out, God bless you. Please keep in mind that it is a real bitch getting your ticket refunded at the average multiplex.

Pulse fmovies. I am sure you are all familiar with how a good book can be ruined by its movie rendition. Well, this is a perfect example of how a good movie can be ruined by its American remake. Sure there are advantages to Hollywood-ification; take a look at the difference in special effects for 'The Ring' and 'The Grudge'. But, in turn, what is then sacrificed is quality in story and plot development, case and point being the American 'Ring 2' involving an attack from possessed deer. Yes... deer.

The movie that inspired this one, 'Kairo' (aka 'Pulse'), had a very complex plot line with real suspense, real attachment of audience feeling, and real take-home messages. The storyline for the new 'Pulse' is something a child could have come up with and is highly reminiscent of a movie released a few years back - 'Dot com'. The whole direction and point of the American version is so far distant from that of the original Japanese that I have no idea why they didn't just separate themselves from it in the first place. Basically, whoever wrote the script had just seen 'Kairo' and thought to himself, "Hey, some of those scenes were awesome! And the way they did this and that? Wow." Twenty minutes later, the script for an 'original' Pulse was created where certain events were directly copied but liberated from all that 'plot' baggage.

Honestly, I cannot find an ounce of merit for this film. Not suspenseful, not scary in the least, and even the effects failed to impress. The action felt rushed, the logic behind everything abandoned for the sake of a 'just go with it', and the message dumbed down so far that even the densest of movie-goers can get smacked across the face with it.

I am not preaching that you should watch the original; just, please, for the sake of America's general intelligence level, do not consider this movie good or clever or inventive. Or good. Thanks.

We just came home from seeing Pulse. Sorry friends, this is one film you won't be sorry you missed. Slow, boring, and lots of loose ends. No thrills, chills or characters you can care about. You are presented with a group of close friends -- yet no one seems concerned or even to notice that one of their buddies hasn't been around, anywhere, for a few days. No one seems to care when his fate is discovered. For some reason, all the college students seem to reside in apartments with black walls and leave food scattered all over the place to rot. I'm guessing the props dept had a lot of bugs around and wanted to use them up. Better to wait until this film shows up on cable at 3 am and you have nothing better to do before you watch this one.

I went to see Pulse knowing it was PG13, so I didn't expect much gore, but couldn't the writer of this story at least have done something more with it?

Pulse is a movie about a hacker who releases a strange computer virus which immediately affects computers everywhere as well as cell phones and even TV screens. We soon find out that the virus is really the dead who have found a way to return to the living world. What they want is the life force of every living being. So it is up to our heroes to try and find a way to stop them before they can consume the entire world.

That's the plot which in my opinion was a rather clever idea. Too bad that the story makes very little sense and is filled with implausibilities that go against the very story that the writer and director were trying to get across. I won't explained these because of the spoilers that would be involved. Of course there aren't many spoilers anyway, since the commercials give much of it away.

The acting was decent, and some of the visuals were nice, but there is very little suspense. This is more of a simple shock film like so many other horror movies that have been filling our theaters for about three years. There is one horror movie that is the exception, and that is The Descent which was released last week. If you want to see one of the best horror movies in the past couple years, go see that one instead and forget about Pulse.