Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Noutions Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Red-Barracuda 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.

moonspinner55 Writer-director Paul Golding's abysmal, completely forgettable thriller distributed by a major studio (Columbia) but filled with low-rent talent. Story has a young boy (Joey Lawrence) attempting to save his dad and stepmother from evil, unseen forces within their home. As the stubborn father, Cliff De Young once again gives his usual knucklehead performance; he has made a specialty out of playing impatient grown-ups who have no ear (or use) for the truth, and yet we're supposed to care what happens to the guy? Lawrence is kept near the verge of hysteria throughout, but this begins to look pretty silly--especially when there's not much happening plot-wise. * from ****

liminalone The idea of a malevolent force living inside the local power lines (and thus, inside your home) is not a bad one. We can probably live with the plot, but what about the movie? The fact that we are treated to multiple shots of stuff like, oh I don't know, the thermostat (accompanied by tense music) to heighten our fear should give you the answer.Apparently an electrical storm causes something to happen at a substation. Exactly what happens we will never know, because we pretty much see the lightning strike, then spend some time watching different film angles of power lines and equipment overlaid with the opening credits. I think that the lightning strike created "The Pulse," allowing it to travel over the wires finding a safe place to kill people, but do not quote me on that.Enter Bill, Ellen, and David, the standard (fissionable) elements of a nuclear family. His dad's house might be in a well to do neighborhood, but Bill has installed all sorts of bars on the windows to prevent forced entry. Since the chances of a burglary in this film are probably nil, we can bet they will be unable to leave the cursed house at some point due to Bill's paranoid security measures.Demonic forces (even ones with polarity) love to torment young children and the little wuss makes a perfect target, so how does it screw with David? By cracking gas mains, making the television go freaky, and eventually turning the home into a flaming death trap. It is all very silly to me, including the grass dying around the house. The current usually stays inside the wires or various appliances, why would plant matter start dying? Guess it just seemed like a "horrific" thing to happen.If there was ever a movie the Amish would enjoy this is it ("See Jeremiah! Machines are the Devil's work! Now go outside and round up your six brothers for supper."), perhaps that was the audience targeted when it was produced? If so then someone in marketing got fired, probably beat up and then fired now that I think about it.

Scarecrow-88 An electrical force(possibly alien, although the director, who also wrote it, doesn't specify exactly)terrorizes The Rocklands(Cliff De Young & Roxanne Hart). Bill Rockland's young son David(remember Joey Lawrence)comes to stay in LA for the summer. The entire family begin to notice their appliances and mechanized systems are malfunctioning often effecting even their water. Soon violence will erupt with scary results.The director Paul Golding does a good job with showing us how the force takes over mechanical devices with starling effects. We see this mechanical fungus-like evolution forming..I've never seen anything quite like it. Golding also enforces our dependency on electrical appliances and machinery as we have moved into a more modern age. It's a set-up "what-if" scenario with the force working almost as a virus moving from house to house effecting those who live within each place one at a time. Obviously, those on the outside look at the victims of the pulses as crazy..that is until it happens to them next.