Pulse - Blu-ray

Film: One of Stephen King's specialties is to let horror emerge from the very mundane. He managed to do that in his novel Pulse, which has now been made into a movie starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson. The horror this time comes in the form of cell phones, or more specifically, a pulse that turns anyone currently on their smartphone into a raging beast. It all starts on an ordinary day when Clay Riddell (Cusack), who is in Boston on business having sold his first graphic novel, watches the world around him go into a bloody frenzy. Along with subway driver Tom (Jackson) and a girl named Alice (Isabelle Fuhrman), Clay manages to escape Boston, making his way home at all costs to find out if his wife and son have also fallen victim to the Pulse. And so the three embark on a journey through a near apocalyptic world where there seems to be no future for the surviving humans.

With in parts very drastic means King creates in his book the picture of a self-destructive society, which is driven into madness by the pulse. In doing so, he doesn't skimp on sometimes very amusing sideswipes at modern pop culture and at the American government. The people mutated into murdering maniacs by their cell phones remind a bit of the infested zombies from Danny Boyle's movie 28 Days later. Plus, of course, there's the obligatory reference to George R. Romero's Dawn of the Dead. In between, King once again does a first-rate job of turning the protagonists into characters for the reader to identify with, which greatly increases the potential for suspense in this end-times novel.

The film adaptation of Pulse is unfortunately not as effective in this regard - although King himself co-wrote the screenplay. For a long time, Hostel director Eli Roth was slated to direct. It would have been interesting to see what a less than squeamish horror director like Roth would have gotten out of the original. Tod Williams (Paranormal Activity 2), on the other hand, is only able to build up the tension inherent in King's book template to a limited extent. A good example of this is the very first scene at the Boston airport. When most of the people there turn into angry beasts within seconds, this definitely has a certain shock and suspense potential. But when the usually reliable John Cusack then stumbles through the scenery in a surprisingly ponderous manner, it just takes away from the effectiveness of the whole thing.

Deep logic holes and flat dialogue are not uncommon in the genre. But unfortunately, other weaknesses come into play here. When a plane crashes or an explosion occurs, for example, the special effects prove to be extremely poor, which is almost unintentionally comical. And the ending, which King rewrote especially for the film, also seems a bit lovelessly cobbled together. Pulse has some good moments, no question about it. And even if the actors don't deliver stellar performances, the chemistry between John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson is almost as good again as it was in their last Stephen King collaboration in Room 1408. Still, it's all too clear in too many scenes that the film falls far short of its potential and therefore only deserves a limited worth seeing rating.

Image + Sound: The technical realization of the film has turned out very atmospheric. Even if there are some minor weaknesses in the darker scenes in the detail representation and minimal image noise to discover, the color scheme and the harmonious contrast mix yet capture the gloomy mood of the story very well. The purposefully used sound effects further emphasize this impression. They provide pleasant dynamics on the surround channels again and again. Overall, there is an absolutely deserved: good!

Extras: Besides the trailer, there is only a short promo making of (approx. 12:18 min.).

Conclusion: Pulse may not be one of Stephen King's best novels, but it still offers plenty of potential for an exciting and involving horror film. Unfortunately, that's not what Tod Williams' adaptation turned out to be. Despite some really effective moments, the flick falls short of its potential overall. The Blu-ray presents Escape from Cell Phone Zombies in atmospheric picture and sound quality. The bonus offerings are scant and not worth mentioning. Overall, there is for this disc only with deductions still a: Recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp