Pulse

Here's what I got from this movie. Kristen Bell is really pretty.

Now, that's what I rented it for, so I really can't complain. If your interest is less shallow than mine, you'll likely be disappointed.

Some monsters are attacking people via their computers, cell phones, etc. They are pale, bald, naked creatures who screech and wail. When they catch people, they scream and "suck the will to live." The victims then act weird and hermit-y for a while and eventually kill themselves.

Now, there's a decent metaphor for internet addiction in there. It doesn't get explored very far. The focus is on how creepy the victims look and act, and the manner of their deaths.

Kristen Bell plays Mattie (hey, I remembered the character's name!), whose recently ex boyfriend is one of the first victims of the pale naked monsters. Mattie is smart and brave, but not nearly as smart and brave as Bell's better known character, Veronica Mars (who is awesome). She eventually teams up with some guy whom I think I've seen on some WB show, but I can't identify him. Together, they find a computer virus that they hope can kill the monsters.

Okay, the monsters come in through people's computers because, as a character tells us, we've been "broadcasting stuff all over the place." There's the seed of a cool, slightly lovecraftian menace here. I imagined that these creatures live in a nightmare world that's just a quantum smidgen removed from our own, and they can pick up our broadcasts at certain frequencies, then come on over and have themselves a feast. The thing is, they can find you through computers that aren't even networked. More than once there are lines something like "but the computer wasn't online!"

Oh well. It's not a horrible use of your time. There is one scene that was genuinely creepy. And Kristen Bell is really pretty.