DVD - Pulse (2006) *Kristen Bell / Octavia Spencer / Christina Milian / Horror*

Jim Sonzero's remake of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Japanese horror hit KAIRO (2001) is a techno-thriller cowritten by Wes Craven (SCREAM, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET). Kristen Bell (VERONICA MARS) stars as Mattie, a student whose ex-boyfriend, Josh (Jonathan Tucker), goes through a strange transformation, then hangs himself. His depression seems to have emanated from a computer program he was working on--which continues running even when it's not plugged in. As they delve deeper into what happened to Josh, Mattie and her best friends, Isabell (Christina Milian), Stone (Rick Gonzalez), and Tim (FREAKS AND GEEKS veteran Samm Levine), start seeing bizarre images that none of them can explain as more and more people around them are dying unexplainable deaths. With the help of Dexter (LOST's Ian Somerhalder), Mattie begins putting the details together, leading to a frightening and surprising conclusion. Sonzero's feature-film directorial debut is a claustrophobic examination of where technology such as computers and cell phones might lead, and loosely falls into the same genre as films like Takashi Miike's ONE MISSED CALL (2003) and Gore Verbinski's THE RING (2002). Elia Cmiral's creepy score adds to the tension