"Nobody in chains ever soared up to the sun"This film is a considerably underrated yet imperfect exercise in style filmmaking. The most important element in creating a film in this genre is how effectively the director can engineer the creepiness and mystery factor and IMO Adams definitely succeeds in pulling it off here. It's clear that he grafted some of the directoral techniques of David Lynch in many of the films early sequences....Madeline Stowe says as much in the actor interviews on the DVD. Much of the film's skillfully accomplished eeriness is greatly enhanced by the soundtrack which is a solid 10.Stowe was the perfect choice for the mother as much of her acting skill comes from her gifted ability to convey strong emotion nonverbally but merely through her facial expressions. Just watching her you truly believe this is a woman in a complete state of panic. Norman Reedus was also exceptional as the tow truck driver with a stoic icy demeanor who manipulates the audience into a context of uncertainty about his intentions. ************ Spoiler Alert *****************The film started to become very interesting during the scene inside the tanker truck where the dark highway sequences suddenly blend into a lofty dreamlike club atmosphere with the Orbital soundtrack pounding away giving the impression that this cult is most at home when they're on the highway.It is true, as some of the other reviewers point out, that the only real let-down in the film was the ending. It was too abrupt and should've been more developed. It would have been well served by an additional 10-15 minutes of good writing.The entire film was shot in Luxembourg so nothing about the highway sequences looks familiar.

As you have probably gathered from the other reviews, this film badly needed a script doctor. If you watch films only to watch "stories," then move on. If, however, you appreciate stylish. dreamlike imagery and provocative dramatic situations, then this film does have something to offer. "Pulse" has been running on Showtime (under the title "Octane") and I have watched long sections of it several times. As scenes and sequences, many of these sections are quite compelling. I would like to see what this film's screenwriter(s) produce in five or ten years and I would like to see this director work with more coherent material.

Totally sucked. Boring. Awful. Ridiculous. Stupid. Exercise in wasting celluloid. Waste of Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Barton - always horrible. Barton - talentless. Stowe - surprised she'd do such tripe. Tedius. Wanting of plot. Wanting of a story. Wanting of good writing. Wanting of good direction. Wanting of art direction. Wanting of anything good. WANTING. WANTING. Totally sucked. Boring. Awful. Ridiculous. Stupid. Exercise in wasting celluloid. Waste of Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Barton - always horrible. Barton - talentless. Stowe - surprised she'd do such tripe. Tedius. Wanting of plot. Wanting of a story. Wanting of good writing. Wanting of good direction. Wanting of art direction. Wanting of anything good. WANTING. WANTING.

The film itself was not bad and mildly entertaining but it could have been so much more. I hate to see the start of good storyline turn into a big mess.The cast was quite versatile and fit the character profiles well. The dialogue was quite cheesy in parts and a few of the 'extras/characters' (i.e. the black female cop) acted horrifically. *Jonathan Rhys Myers is so hot no matter what he's in but especially as a bad boy so he automatically bumped my rating up a star. * The beginning premise of the story, mother and daughter with a dysfunctional relationship get caught up in a dangerous cult on a road trip home was quite promising and the beginning 10 minutes were quite enthralling. After that everything unravelled. Several instances happened in the next hour and a half that made no sense and were never explained. I mean I guess you could make up your own conclusions but you had no idea who the cult was, the history behind them, what the ultimate goal was for the cult and what the hell was the last half hour being in a research lab all about?! You don't want a story line being obvious but you at least want a foundation to start on before you begin fantasizing about the rest.There were just way too many questions unanswered that made the last 30 mins seem quite ridiculous and badly written.Not a bad flick overall but I wouldn't put it at the top of your rental list.