Pulse is a horror film that deals with the dangers of the internet. Horror films usually do not draw high scores from me, but it’s still nice to see them give it their all. Maybe this will end up being one of the best horror films that I’ve ever seen. The concept is interesting and the film is actually pretty recent. Let’s see how it fared!

After a guy named Josh is quickly defeated in the library, the film lets you know that Mattie will be the main character. She’ll need to be tougher than Josh, since he gives up on life and dies pretty early in the film. Mattie has a few friends with her and they’ll try to figure out what happened to Josh, but it may be a losing battle. They have two clues to go on….his computer and red tape. Meanwhile, a guy named Dex happens to be around and he’s quickly pulled into the thick of things!

First of all, it should be noted that the villains are only mildly tough. They manage to overpower several of the main guys in the film and also defeat an old man. (The latter case is not confirmed, but the man was with his cart and then the cart comes back…but the guy is gone!) The ghosts were trapped in the internet by a “super” genius, but they escaped thanks to our local hacker, Josh. Once the ghosts are out, there’s no getting them back in.

Personally, I think that the heroes got off lucky. The demons from The Grudge and The Ring are far scarier and more threatening than these guys. These guys suck a person’s will into them so that the person ends up wanting to die. I don’t buy that kind of power. These guys must have had a very weak grasp on their will to live. (Bleach actually agrees with me in the latest chapters of the final arc.) The humans should have tried harder! The ghosts seem like they can also blow a person up by infecting them with a disease if they don’t succumb to depression quick enough.

There’s also a pretty neat counselor at the school, but one can tell that he is an expendable character. After he gives Mattie a pep talk about how ghosts aren’t real, he is attacked. I won’t say if he wins or not, but let’s just say that you can’t really call it a “fight”.

By the end of the film, almost everyone in the entire school has disappeared. Only a handful of people are left and one would think that the government would get involved. We’re talking about 100+ people disappearing in an instant and it actually reaches up to the millions area before the very end. The ghosts work pretty fast!

Mattie is not one of the better main characters. She’s all right I suppose, but she’s not quite as intense as the average main character. That being said, she’s much better than Josh. Josh is the first to go and hacking never ends well. Stone is another one of the main characters, but diving under the bed to hide from the ghosts may be a plan that he regrets.

Tim has the right idea as he hides out in his room with a lot of red tape. His only mistake is that he takes some of the tape off so that he can see what’s happening outside……….pretty big mistake. Douglas is the guy who originally trapped the spirits, but it must have been a fluke because he quickly hides when they escape. He actually survives and he’s still hiding in his closet which is surrounded by red tape. I guess we’ll see how long he can stay in the closet before having to make a trip to Wal Mart for some pizza and chips. He’s going to need food at some point! Dex is the “tough guy” of the group and he knows exactly what needs to be done. Unfortunately, he is faced off against the spirits of two little boys and it’s enough for him to take a few steps back. I won’t say if he gets through the predicament alive, but it’s an intense scene!

So, the film doesn’t sound that bad right now right? Maybe it’ll actually get a positive score! Well…..that’s not going to happen. It’s time to launch into the negatives of the film. The first big one involves…animal violence. Unfortunately, the film sunk to that low. It’s a pretty sad scene and it instantly destroyed a few points from the film. We see a cat who is in Very bad shape. It’s enough to give you an upset stomach to be honest. The cat was also locked in the closet and it’s a very sad and unsettling scene.

Another thing that doesn’t help its case is an unnecessary bath scene. They’re always unnecessary, but it’s still sad that they keep on adding those type of scenes. I’m sure that the films would get much better reviews and also sell more if they didn’t add those scenes. Just look at The Avengers!

I also can’t give this film a very good score considering how all of the characters are pretty annoying and unlikable. They are easy prey for the villains and they should have put up more resistance like the old couple who had a shotgun. Those guys knew the score and they were actually fighting against the spirits!

Overall, this is another horror film that I cannot recommend. It falls into the big animal violence and fanservice holes, which don’t bode well for it. I did like the ending since the Government is finally getting involved as they’ve gotten people to Dead Zones so the spirits cannot hurt them. (Spirits can only operate in places with Wifi) That’s a good first step, but I want to see what the human’s counter attack will be. After all, we do see Josh in the very end and the war is just getting started! The film got a pair of sequels, but I can’t say that I’m really planning to watch them. If you really want to watch something scary, then check out the final season of Yugioh GX!!!

Overall 2/10