Review: Impulse

Meg Tilly and boyfriend (a doctor, played by Tim Matheson) return to her Midwest hometown after hearing of a bizarre and nearly fatal incident involving her mother. Before long they realise that the townsfolk seem to have become afflicted by some kind of illness that sees them abandon all inhibitions, and results in maddening violent incidents. Hume Cronyn is the local doctor, John Karlen is Tilly’s protective dad, Bill Paxton is Tilly’s rebellious brother, and Claude Earl Jones is the local sheriff, who has one very disturbing scene indeed.

 

Reminding me of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and some of Stephen King’s work, this 1984 sci-fi/thriller from director Graham Baker (“Omen III: The Final Conflict”, “Alien Nation”) sounds interesting on paper but the execution is a sorry disappointment. The cast certainly can’t be faulted, with the underrated Meg Tilly in particular impressing. She really is the polar opposite of Jennifer isn’t she? Her performances always have a shy, sweet-natured, vulnerability about them. Jennifer, by contrast is usually brassy, shrill, and slutty (And I mean those as compliments, I actually really like her).

 

The characters are pretty thin, and I felt particularly sorry for Hume Cronyn and Bill Paxton here, whose roles were pretty poorly written. Paxton, in particular, has a disturbing secret that, when revealed, leaves one with a bad taste in the mouth because there are some things you really need to be careful in including in a horror/sci-fi flick, and I don’t think this film deals with that subject anywhere near well enough to justify it. I also think that some of the supposed suppressed urges aren’t well-enough defined so that you know that this really is a behaviour that they are suppressing. Sometimes it comes off like they are acting in a manner entirely different to their nature, not acting on a suppressed nature. That’s the problem when characters aren’t well enough established.

 

What really hurts the film are the deadly slow pace, and the thin script from Nicholas Kazan (“Frances”, “At Close Range”, “Bicentennial Man”) and Don Carlos Dunaway (Stephen King’s underrated “Cujo”), the former using the pseudonym Bart Davis, perhaps out of dissatisfaction with what ended up on screen. In addition to being clichéd (it’ll also remind you of “The Crazies” and the relatively recent “The Happening”), it feels like a short story idea is being stretched out to feature length, and rather unsuccessfully at that. Also, whilst the pacing is very slow, the transition from ‘normal’ to loony plays out far too quickly. We never really get much of a sense of the townsfolk before the fit hits the shans, so why should we care? Baker seems to have no sense of proper pacing or energy whatsoever, the film is painfully lacking in excitement or tension.

 

Good late cameo by Peter Jason (a regular of John Carpenter’s films), though, and the ending is nicely nihilistic. In fact, if it wanted to be even bolder, it could’ve gone even bleaker. Still, it’s the best thing about the film. There are some OK moments, but not enough. It’s just not very original and it’s just not very well done, I’m afraid. 

 

Rating: C