Pulse 2: Afterlife

Americanizing a Japanese horror film can be a hit or miss situation. For every good film like The Ring you have to suffer through One Missed Call. Pulse in my humble opinion was a great film Kristen Bell and Ian Somerhelder were awesome and it was a nice way to pass time.

Pulse 2 however is an insult, a big middle finger pointed at the masses as they run off with your the money you squandered in order to watch it. The only word that can describe it would be unnecessary.

The plot basically centers around the restless spirit of a woman stalking her ex-husband and daughter. To punish the unfaithful ex, Mommy Deadest intends to take her daughter into the afterlife with her. The ex however plans to fight her at every turn.

Let's start with the "hero" of the film. He seems emotionally stunted at best. In one scene in a small cabin with his traumatized daughter in the next room, his current squeeze wants to fool around. Despite saying no, all it takes is five seconds of body heat before he's ready to toss her on a table and get busy. Let's further traumatize the already traumatized daughter.

Then there was the gore which was nauseating and had no place in the movie. Eye gouging, slain house pets, repulsive sex scenes, none of these enhanced the film and were obviously thrown in for shock value. And did I mention of the ghosts walks around nude, unnecessarily so.

There is some strange side character who swoops in, announces his plans to "end the madness" once and for all. Was he some forgotten character from the first film or a weak link to a Pulse 3 (please god no stop it). He has no point whatsoever which is sad because he was the only tolerable person in this mess.

The ending was abrupt, pointless, and confusing. Rather than defy the odds and create a sequel as good as it's predecessor. It was tossed together in a slapdash effort to score some quick cash. And with straight to DVD sequels becoming popular I see no end to inferior sequels in the near future.

The Eye

Honestly not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Jessica Alba plays Sydney a violinist who has been blind since she was 5 years old. She gets a cornea transplant that brings her more than just sight. It brings her the ability to see the dead.

These new visions begin to effect Sydney's life threatening her very sanity in the process. With the help of her therapist she begins to search for the donor in an attempt to get answers.

This film is quite suspenseful with honest to goodness and some pretty scary scenes. Jessica Alba shines as Sydney and we are even blessed with awesome Parker Posey as well. The script is most decent however I found the ending to be rather ludicrous and tacked on. And the final reveal of the donor seemed rushed and not properly thought out. All in all though it's a decent movie that will entertain.

On a personal note: To the people in the theater with me, I am aware you probably didn't like the film as much as I did. That's okay not everyone has the same tastes. However not everyone pays nearly 20$ for film and food just to listen to you guys. Laughing for nearly 30 minutes during a horror movie, yelling such witty platitudes as "Oooh scary," and "Run bitch run", and ignoring the people who kept shushing you is simply trashy and ignorant. If you don't like the film and can't keep your trap shut then leave, the rest of the audience will thank you.

Movie theaters need to bring back movie ushers to patrol the theaters during the films. We need to have theaters that aren't afraid of ousting the problem customers. So you might lose one or two customers, you've just gained the respect of the other 40. We pay a lot of money to see these films, we should be able to see the film in peace.