''Pulse 3'' (also known as ''Pulse 3: Invasion'') is a 2008 American

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apo ...

written and directed by

Joel Soisson Joel Soisson is an American filmmaker. He works primarily in the field of independent film. His numerous credits include ''Dracula 2000'', '' A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge'', ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'', ''The Prophecy' ...

Rider Strong Rider King Strong (born December 11, 1979) is an American actor, producer, director and screenwriter. He is best known for starring as Shawn Hunter on the ABC sitcom '' Boy Meets World'' (1993–2000), which he reprised in its sequel series '' G ...

and Brittany Finamore star as two people who begin chatting online in a

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; ast ...

society where technology is forbidden. It is a sequel to '' Pulse 2: Afterlife'' and the third and final installment of the ''

Pulse In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the ...

'' trilogy. The film was released straight-to-DVD on December 23, 2008.

Plot

Seven years into the invasion after Adam's (Rider Strong) Egyptian girlfriend Salwa (Noureen DeWulf) got hit by an infection, causing her to commit

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

, humankind has fled the cities, where billions have died from a plague that is spread through the Internet. Justine (Brittany Finamore) dreams of a life beyond her squalid refugee camp, where all technology is taboo. She discovers the last working laptop and opens it like

Pandora's box Pandora's box is an artifact in Greek mythology connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's c. 700 B.C. poem '' Works and Days''. Hesiod reported that curiosity led her to open a container left in the care of her husband, thus releasing phy ...

. Someone is waiting for her online, and that someone wants desperately to meet her, who is revealed to be Adam through an

Internet chat Online chat may refer to any kind of communication over the Internet that offers a real-time transmission of text messages from sender to receiver. Chat messages are generally short in order to enable other participants to respond quickly. Ther ...

. The only catch: she must return to the city. With a longing that surpasses fear, Justine embarks on a terrifying journey back to the heart of where it all began. What waits there is something that she could not possibly have imagined. Towards the end of the movie, Justine reunites with Adam, but he was the only person who had not got the plague, resulting in him avoiding to care about "anything but himself". Justine smashes the working laptop and unplugs the

USB flash drive A USB flash drive (also called a thumb drive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. It is typically removable, rewritable and much smaller than an optical disc. Most weigh less than . Since fir ...

from the slot, before encountering some Internet ghosts trying to get her. The unexpected explosions appear, making the ghosts disappear and go through Adam's body. He is then killed by the ghosts and the invasion ends with a

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...

from Justine.

Cast

Production

This film and '' Pulse 2: Afterlife'' were shot back-to-back in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Release

''Pulse 3'' was released on DVD in the United States on December 23, 2008.

Reception

Bill Gibron of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, f ...

rated it 3/10 stars and wrote that the series has now become a "holding dock for dull horror clichés". In comparing it to the original Japanese film, Gibron called it "too little, too late" for becoming a small, personal character study instead of exploring deeper themes. At

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

, Justin Felix rated it 1.5/5 stars and wrote that the focus on teenage angst makes it only interesting to die-hard fans.

References

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, pulse_3 2008 films 2008 direct-to-video films 2008 horror films 2008 psychological thriller films 2000s science fiction horror films American thriller films American science fiction horror films 2000s English-language films American ghost films American supernatural horror films American dystopian films American post-apocalyptic films Direct-to-video sequel films Films directed by Joel Soisson Films with screenplays by Joel Soisson Films scored by Elia Cmíral 2000s American films