''Pulse'' is a 1988 American

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

horror film written and directed by Paul Golding, drawing influence from previous works of science fiction and horror, and starring

Cliff De Young Clifford Tobin DeYoung (born February 12, 1945)According to the State of California. ''California Birth Index, 1905-1995''. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At Ancestry.com is an Ame ...

Roxanne Hart Roxanne Hart (born July 27, 1952) is an American actress, best known for her roles as Brenda Wyatt in the 1986 film ''Highlander'', and as Nurse Camille Shutt on the CBS medical drama series ''Chicago Hope'' (1994–1998). Hart has also received ...

, Joseph Lawrence,

Matthew Lawrence Matthew William Lawrence (born February 11, 1980) is an American actor and singer, known for his roles in ''Mrs. Doubtfire'' and ''Boy Meets World''. Lawrence also starred in the series '' Brotherly Love'' with his real-life brothers Joey and An ...

, and

Charles Tyner Charles Tyner (June 8, 1923 – November 8, 2017) was an American film, television and stage character actor best known, principally, for his performances in the films ''Harold and Maude'' (1971), '' Emperor of the North Pole'' (1973), '' The Long ...

. The film's title refers to a highly aggressive and intelligent pulse of electricity that terrorizes the occupants of a suburban house in Los Angeles, California. The film was produced through

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

and the Aspen Film Society and distributed by Columbia Pictures. The titular Pulse and its accompanying elements were designed by Cinema Research Corporation.

Plot

A highly aggressive, paranormal intelligence thriving within the electrical grid system of Los Angeles, California is moving from house to house. It terrorizes the occupants by taking control of the appliances, killing them or causing them to wreck the house in an effort to destroy it. Once this has been accomplished, it travels along the power lines to the next house, and the terror restarts. Having thus wrecked one household in a quiet, suburban neighborhood, the pulse finds itself in the home of a boy's divorced father whom he is visiting. It gradually takes control of everything, injuring the stepmother, and trapping father and son, who must fight their way out.

Cast

as Bill Rockland *

as Ellen Rockland * Joey Lawrence as David Rockland *

as Stevie *

as Old Man Holger *Dennis Redfield as Pete *

Robert Romanus Robert Romanus (born July 17, 1956), also billed as Bob Romanus, is an American actor and musician who has starred in film and television. He is perhaps best known for his role as ticket scalper Mike Damone in the 1982 comedy ''Fast Times at Rid ...

as Paul *

Myron Healey Myron Daniel Healey (June 8, 1923 – December 21, 2005) was an American actor. He began his career in Hollywood, California during the early 1940s and eventually made hundreds of appearances in movies and on television during a career spa ...

as Howard *Michael Rider as Foreman *

Jean Sincere Jean "Sinny" Sincere Zambello (August 16, 1919 – April 3, 2013) was an American film, television, theater and voice actress. Her credits included the films '' Roxanne'', ''The Incredibles'', and the musical television series, '' Glee''. Early ...

as Ruby *Terry Beaver as Policeman *Greg Norberg as Policeman *

Tim Russ Timothy Darrell Russ (born June 22, 1956) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and musician. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Commander Tuvok on '' Star Trek: Voyager'', Robert Johnson in ''Crossroads'' (1986), Casey in '' ...

as Policeman

Release

The film was promoted by the

taglines In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, so ...

"It traps you in your house...then pulls the plug," "In every second of every day, it improves our lives. And in a flash, it can end them," and also "the ultimate shocker."

Reception

''Pulse'' has a 64% approval rating at the online

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 14 reviews.

Music

The musical score for ''Pulse'' was composed by Jay Ferguson, who also composed "Pictures of You" from the soundtrack to ''The Terminator'', and the film score to '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pulse (1988 Film) 1980s science fiction horror films 1988 films 1988 horror films 1980s English-language films Films set in Los Angeles American haunted house films Columbia Pictures films 1988 directorial debut films Techno-horror films 1980s American films