By Richard Winters
My Rating: 3 out of 10
4-Word Review: Electrical current terrorizes family.
David (Joey Lawrence) moves in with this father (Cliff De Young) and stepmother (Roxanne Hart) for what everyone hopes will be fun and relaxing summer. However, a strange electrical current of unknown origin has infiltrated the grid that controls the appliances of their home. It has already destroyed the home across the street and now seems intent to do the same to theirs. Will the family be able to fight it off and survive, or will they become victims as well?
At the outset before watching the film I was really surprised why this wasn’t better known as I had only become aware of it just recently. Some may argue that because it was given only a limited release that caused it to die off into obscurity, but there’s a lot of movies that weren’t well known when first shown but later acquired a cult following and with this type of premise, you’d think it would make for a good candidate. The special effects, particularly the ones shown inside the electrical circuitry, is impressive and well ahead of its time.
Unfortunately, it gets too invested into these shots. Watching the inner wiring of machines melt away up close is fascinating to see, but having it go back to it in what seems 5 or 8 more times, it starts to get boring and redundant. The other effects, the ones done outside of the machinery, is not nearly as effective. Seeing the family’s TV go ‘haywire’ by having small bleeps appear on the screen will not freak out anybody, and for today’s viewers will come off as nothing more than somebody’s screensaver. Having the washer/dryer backfire a bit in the kid’s face as he looks under it, isn’t real exciting either and for the first hour these are the only so-called ‘scares’ that you’ll see.
Joey Lawrence was not a good casting choice. His claim to fame at the time was his appearances on the TV-Show ‘Gimme a Break’ where his basic talents centered on his singing ability and being an adorable little kid, but in a dramatic setting his exaggerated facial expressions particularly when he’s frightened are over-the-top and a more subtle nuance would’ve been preferrable. I didn’t care for his kid brother Matthew, who plays a neighbor kid, either. I couldn’t understand why his befriending of that kid was even put in as it doesn’t amount to much with the plot. Had they both teamed up to battle the pulse then fine, but that’s not how it works here. I also didn’t get the need for why Joey was a product of a divorce as that angle doesn’t make any difference and he could’ve just been their kid and living there right from the beginning. On that note too his bed, which is styled like a race car, looked cheesy and something better suited for a 4-year-old then someone ready to turn 12.
De Young and Hart are far better actors, and I would’ve preferred it to have just been them fighting the evil force, or maybe also having an infant child to protect, and not having Lawrence in it at all. I realize that in order to attract a youthful audience the main character needed to be a kid, but ultimately it detracts from the tension, what little there is, versus making it stronger. I was also disappointed that Hart disappears halfway through as she was the one thing that kept it together and her absence is sorely missed.
Spoiler Alert!
The scares and action do get more pronounced during the third act, and some may describe this part as being moderately riveting, but having the dad and son work together to battle it doesn’t have much meaning. Had the two been at odds at the beginning and then gotten past their differences in order to battle a common enemy then it might’ve had impact, but there’s no character journey, or arc at all, so ultimately, it’s a generic outing.
It’s also frustrating that no explanation is ever given for what’s behind this force. At the beginning we see a bolt of lightning come out of the sky and strike a power cord, so it seems like it’s simply an act of nature, but as the story progresses it becomes obvious that this force, whatever it is, is ‘plotting’ and ‘thinking’, so what exactly is it? Having it travel to the neighbor’s house and start to harass them just deepens the mystery. Is this force just going to take down each house and family one at a time? And when it gets done with this cul-de-sac is it going to move on to another one and another subdivision and so on until it destroys every house in the country? Who’s going to stop it, or is that even possible? These are all questions that needed to be answered and instead it ends right when it starts to get interesting making it a cop-out that promises way more than it delivers.
My Rating: 3 out of 10
Released: March 11, 1988
Runtime: 1 Hour 31 Minutes
Rated PG-13
Director: Paul Golding
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Available: DVD, Blu-ray, Amazon Video, Roku, YouTube
Scopophilia 