Impulse (1984)

After a small earthquake in a small and quiet town, local citizens start to have a bizarre, violent and self-destructive behaviour...

Director:

Graham Baker

Writers:

Nicholas Kazan, Don Carlos Dunaway

Stars:

Tim Matheson, Meg Tilly, Hume Cronyn

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tim Matheson	...	Stuart
Meg Tilly	...	Jennifer
Hume Cronyn	...	Dr. Carr
John Karlen	...	Bob Russell
Bill Paxton	...	Eddie
Amy Stryker	...	Margo
Claude Earl Jones	...	Sheriff
Robert Wightman	...	Howard
Lorinne Vozoff	...	Mrs. Russell
Peter Jason	...	Man in Truck
Adam Baumgarten	...	Boy with Danny
Abigail Booraem	...	Mrs. Ashley
Leonard Burns	...	Pissing Man
Mary Celio	...	Mary Woodson
Jack T. Collis	...	Mr. Arson

Storyline

After a small earthquake in a small and quiet town, local citizens start to have a bizarre, violent and self-destructive behaviour...

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Plot Keywords:

earthquake | male nudity | sadistic doctor | suicide by shooting one's self in the head | daughter | 

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Taglines:

The madness inside us all.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 September 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dødlig impuls

Filming Locations:

Lincoln, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

ABC Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob: Grizzly II: The Predator (2011)

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Soundtracks

"BEFORE THE NEXT TEARDROP FALLS"
Performed by Loretta Lynn
Courtesy of MCA Records, Inc.

User Reviews

Half-Remembered But...

Part of me doesn't know how to rate this, because I saw it years and years ago, but it's one of those films which left a vivid impression on me. "Impulse" is the story of a town who due to an unknown chemical in the milk supply(the townspeople never know) begin to lose all impulse control.

What follows are increasingly disturbing scenes, which flow into each other, blankly, as a sheriff opens fire on young delinquents, a mother watches nonchalantly as her children light one of her friends on fire, doctors turn off life support, and sexual laws and norms completely breakdown. It's a bleak film, where impulses like curiosity, the desire to save others, are spare, and sex and violence all but absolute by the films apocalyptic end, involving a government cleansing with a crop duster. One of those odd sci-fi films you watch late at night and confuse for a dream till see the box in the video one day. Be interesting to take a second look.