DVD review
Directed by Jim Sonzero
Starring Kristen Bell, Ian Somerhalder, Christina Milian
Release date 5 March 2007

Online shopping… instant messages… and now, a portal to the realm of the dead! Isn’t the internet amazing!

Let’s set the scene [puts on husky film trailer voice]: “Imagine a world where our wireless technology has unwittingly connected the land of the living to the land of the dead… imagine a world where, yes, once again, Hollywood unsuccessfully and irritatingly remakes yet another great example of Asian horror!”

When will the madness end? Here’s a crazy idea – filmmakers who come up with (wait for it…) original ideas get the funding and support to make their movies before the endless stream of remakes suffocates the industry into a cardiac arrest. Hard to imagine though, isn’t it?

All of which blood-pumping analogies take this rant seamlessly to this American ‘reimagining’ of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s 2001 chiller, Kairo. The idea that we could accidentally tap into a realm of malevolent spirits is a good one, but it’s executed with much more subtlety and skill in the original.

Pulse sets young well-groomed actors Ian Somerhalder (Lost) and Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars) against the spooks, and while the cast do well with the material they’re given, the Wes Craven co-written screenplay is shocking – for all the wrong reasons. Instead of building up tension and teasing out the chills with what is a very thought-provoking and unsettling concept, this remake opts for the cheap, easier-to-edit-together series of loud ‘Boo’ scares… which, let’s face it, are easy to do and are rife in the remake market.

Even the DVD sleeve tries too hard, with an almost laughable set of images of the dead clambering over the attractive cast. Extras? Does it matter? Pulse? It barely has one. Paul Terry

VERDICT: 2/10
The tame and silly Pulse continues what is becoming a uncomfortable (and somewhat disrespectful) trend.