The unoriginal trend continues with the new film Pulse, based on the 2001 Japanese horror film Kairo, said to be a masterpiece, although I have not seen it.
Sadly, Hollywood's slick-looking but dumbed-down remake, directed by first-time feature filmmaker and commercial veteran Jim Sonzero, hits a new low.
Fresh-faced Kristen Bell of Veronica Mars fame plays Mattie, a university psychology student who has recently witnessed her boyfriend (Jonathan Tucker) commit suicide after he interacted with a mysterious Internet webcam that promises visitors the chance to see ghosts.
As she and her friends (Christina Milian, Rick Gonzalez, Sam Levine) investigate his death, they also lose their will to live, one by one, as they appear to get "infected" by the literally deadly computer virus.
Soon, the whole city, country, and world is caught up in the silly, supernatural phenomenon, and Mattie's only saviour turns out to be an incredibly attractive computer geek (Ian Somerhalder, who played Boone on Lost) that bought her boyfriend's computer. Red duct tape also proves useful (don't ask).
Along the way, the two good-looking leads deal with lots of dark shadows, flickering lights, creepy noises and terrifying-looking creatures, as Sonzero provides eyecatching visuals and sounds.
The problem is none of it is very scary, and when audience members are supposed to be screaming and covering their eyes, they are mostly laughing out loud.
A cameo by horror-film veteran Brad Dourif, as a whacked-out alarmist in a coffee shop, had the promo-screening audience I attended in complete stitches.
Perhaps if Craven had decided to spend a little more time on rewrites and actually direct this embarrassing flick, Pulse would not have been so dead on arrival.
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