Pulse DVD Review

The back cover of the DVD for Pulse claims that it is the “year’s most original horror film,” relying very heavily upon American audience’s ignorance about foreign films. Pulse was a Japanese horror film made in 2001, and the 2006 remake is nearly identical in plot. The scenes are remarkably similar and it is only the additional special effects and reliance upon electronic devices in the film which seems changed. There are cultural changes, but essentially it is the same film, making the American version remarkably unoriginal. To make matters worse, the original film and the American remake are both more moody and creepy than they are scary. It might have made a great Twilight Zone episode, but even at 88 minutes long it begins to feel unfocused. It might make more sense to remake a bad or mediocre foreign film rather than a good one, but the only way that works is if there is enough changed to make it better. In this case there is not enough changed to make the movie different, and certainly not better.

The concept for the film is certainly original, even if it is a remake. A virus is let loose which takes over computers. The virus is somehow the dead spirits of the world, who just want life. Although the details aren’t really clear, apparently when the spirits connect with a living being through the compute that person loses all will to live and eventually commit suicide. When this virus is let loose in the electronic obsessed world, suddenly everyone is filled with feelings of suicide and isolation. The horror is essentially a metaphor for the fear of loneliness and depression, which is more intelligent than fun to watch.

Part of the reason that horror movies continue is to provide an outlet for young stars to make their way from television to the big screen. It doesn’t usually work that well, but these are usually the only roles they can get at first. Kristen Bell from television’s Veronica Mars is satisfyingly engaging as the lead in this film, although this may just be because of her looks. Still, it would be nice to see her in a more challenging role to find out if there is anything substantial behind her magnetic eyes. Many other teen stars from shows like Lost or Freaks and Geeks are scattered in the film, but most of the roles are inconsequential.

The DVD features deleted scenes, as well as claiming to have enough extra material added back into the film to make it unrated. Really all this means is that it is a cut of the film which hasn’t been rated. There should be a requirement to get the DVD versions of films rated, so that even if a film is rated NC-17 at least we would know what to expect. A film can add one additional scene, of absolutely no rating consequence, and suddenly claim to be an unrated version. This marketing scam is getting to be obnoxious. The DVD also features a making of featurette and a visual effects featurette. There are also two audio commentaries.