So the apocalypse has been brought forth by ghosts who want to suck the lifeforce out of the living (as the first film sets things up). That's a pretty neat concept for any horror movie. Except, in "Pulse 2" not too much is done with it. Instead the story focuses on a divorced man trying to protect his daughter from his ghostly ex-wife, trying to get her hands on her. It's applaudable that the scripts takes different routes, presenting us new protagonists (instead of trying nothing new by whooping up another bunch of teenagers), but it hardly makes up for an exciting movie. The plot is oddly structured too, as the first act exists solely to lead the viewer up the wrong garden (after about half an hour, it gets clear who the real protagonists are). There are a few entertaining moments - like the scene with the naked woman half melted into a black goo on the floor - but they remain nothing more than just moments. The story is pretty thin and the ghostly images are severely underwhelming. Nothing ever gets scary in this film. And what on earth was up with all those obvious green screen effects? A lot of backdrops were used for both exteriors and interiors (the sequences in the cabin were just a bit too much of all this). On the one hand it created a weird look & feel for the film, but on the other hand it's just too distracting for the viewer (I spent most of the running time figuring out how they composed all those shots, instead of getting involved with the story, acting, etc). So, "Pulse 2" turned out a strange viewing experience: interesting from a technical point of view and a bit offbeat in some ways, but way too average and unconvincing as a scary movie. Still, it's good the producers didn't go flat-out for what could be expected in a nowadays sequel. "Pulse 2" turned out something 'different', and while not all of it works like it should, it's not as bad as most people claim it is.
Review of Pulse 2: Afterlife
