Pulse (1988) Movie Script | Subs like Script

What is it?

You'd better call the police.

Yeah, come on.

You better... I'll go down.

- Be careful.

- Yeah.

What? Um, oh, uh,

uh, 1947 Kenwood.

Argh!

- Bill?

- No.

It's okay.

All right, folks, let's back

it up. Let's back it up.

Be careful there.

Stay back. Get back.

What did you see?

Police!

Please clear the area.

This is the police.

Move away from the lawn.

In here!

All right, you people, stay back.

You'll note that Captain Hurley

has turned on

the No Smoking sign

in preparation for our landing

at Los Angeles

International Airport.

We ask that cigarettes

be extinguished at this time.

Please check to see that

your seat belt is securely fastened

and that your tray table

and seat back

are in the upright

and locked position.

You're really gonna

like the new place, son.

It's a lot bigger than

that condo in Venice.

And you won't be

sleeping on the living room sofa.

...the latest in a

rash of Southland freeway assaults

where now a total of more than

40 or more have been killed

and several injured.

What are you doing?

Um... the smoke.

Oh, uh, don't.

Um, that window's

off its track.

It'll go down,

but you can't get it back up again.

Is that better?

Your mother quit smoking, huh?

Yeah, she says people smoke

because, well, they don't

like themselves.

Ooh.

Well, your mother's become quite

the psychologist, I guess, huh?

You know, David...

it's a good thing

your school didn't

let out last week.

We had a lot of

excitement here.

We had three police cars,

an ambulance, a fire engine

and a TV cameraman

from one of the stations.

What happened?

Wait a minute. We're almost home.

I'll show you.

There.

See?

Wow.

What happened?

A fire?

No. Hank Jordan,

the guy who lived there,

just went crazy

or something.

I imagine they'll...

fix it up and sell it.

I just hope

they do it soon.

It looks so terrible

the way it is.

You think your mom

packed enough stuff for you?

Um...

Is something the matter?

Where you and Dad lived before

didn't have all these...

bars on the windows.

Oh.

Well, your dad put them up

right after we moved in.

It makes everything

a lot safer.

Oh, and look.

We didn't want to... cover up

the picture window with them,

so we did this.

Our bedroom's down the hallway,

right over there.

We have our own bathroom,

so this one will be all yours.

And this...

as if you couldn't guess...

is your room.

So, what do you think?

Don't you like it?

It has a lot of mushrooms in it.

Would you like some soup?

Okay.

Thank you.

You'll have to tell me

what other food you... can't stand.

Okay. Ahem.

What's up?

What do you mean?

Well, I mean...

you've been so down

ever since you got here.

What's wrong?

You really should have

come to Colorado.

What, for the summer?

Yeah, and then

we could see each other.

And it would be

a whole lot better.

I mean... I could show you

all these neat places.

Like, um...

there's this one place,

you know,

called the Roaring Fork

where you get in your inner

tubes, ride down the river

and you carry

a fishing pole and...

I've got some pictures

to show you.

Sounds pretty nice, kiddo.

Yeah, and then you could

stay with us at our house.

David...

You know that's not possible.

I know.

But... then you could stay

someplace else,

like someplace close.

And, well, she could come too.

And then I could stay with

you guys there.

Yeah. But I can't

do that, see?

I have a job.

I have to stay here.

Yeah.

You know, Mom doesn't

have any of that stuff.

What, the microwave,

you mean?

See, we used to live

in an apartment in Denver.

And it had all that stuff.

But... I don't know.

We had a microwave

and everything.

But Mom just never used it.

She was scared of it.

She says it can

make you sterile.

Oh, that's silly.

Well, I mean,

it's not true.

Well, it might have been true

a long time ago,

but it's just

not true anymore.

Hi there.

Hey.

Mmm! Hey, what

are you making?

Dessert.

Oh, yeah?

Yeah. We're making

lemon meringue pie.

All right! Fantastic!

My favourite.

Oh. What's this?

Oh, uh, we rented a movie,

and then David found out

there's a Dodgers game tonight.

Yeah? You're still a Dodgers fan.

See, I bet there's

no ball team in Leadville Falls, right?

Mm-mm.

Anyway, we'll

eat dinner a little early,

and you guys

can watch it.

and, if there's still some time

left, you can look at the tape.

Oh, tonight.

See...

What about tonight?

Dan is having some people in

from New York.

Madison Avenue types,

you know?

So I told him... we'd be there.

Why didn't you call?

It's not for dinner.

It's for after.

What about...?

Oh. No. You're

invited too, son.

You should come, really.

Everybody would love

to meet you.

Do I have to?

You'd probably... rather

watch the ballgame.

Oh.

Joe Malfatano

walking over,

talking to Getty.

Virgil back

behind the plate.

Garber stretches.

And the 0-1 pitch

to Mike Marshall.

Base hit, left field.

Marshall going for two.

The throw to Oberkfell.

He's in there.

Yeah!

All right! Yeah.

Here's Chuck Tanner again.

And he's marched

into his bullpen.

He's gonna bring in

his sixth pitcher of the night.

And guess who it's gonna be.

Nike makes shoes for kids.

Running shoes.

Basketball...

The pitch to Whitfield. Inside. Good stop.

On the low

inside pitch...

Hello?

Hi, Dad.

Yeah.

How are you?

Mm-hm. I'm fine.

It's the bottom of the

ninth, and the score is tied.

The guy on second...

...Breaking ball...

...Popfly

to the shortstop...

Two and two.

One out, one on.

Tenth inning.

The Dodgers in the bottom

of the ninth.

Double by Landreaux,

groundout by Brock

and a double by Marshall

who ripped one past...

Once again,

the stretch and the pitch.

Ground ball outside...

And the Dodgers miss a good chance

in the bottom

of the 10th inning.

And there are two groundouts

to close it out.

No runs, one hit

and two left on.

So the Dodgers, a tough loss

to the Atlanta Braves here...

Keep it down.

Huh?

How many times do I have

to tell you? Keep it down.

Dad?

Quiet. Keep it quiet.

We could get one of those, for sure.

Let's take a look at that right now.

All right.

Thank you, Marge. Good luck.

And remember, that's two free...

Thank you.

Never at that price again.

Benefit...

And so...

many things for you.

Just think of all the things

it will do...

Hi. You're on the air

with Bobbie.

This is Marian...

Hi, Marian.

From Phoenix, Arizona.

Now, what can we do today, Marian?

I'm interested in the

zirconia necklace for $99.99.

Now, are you just

getting one today, Marian?

Well, uh...

Gosh, I hadn't

thought about getting...

It makes a great present.

Is there a deal?

Of course there's a deal.

There's always a deal.

Well, how much would two be?

Two would be 99 times two.

Deduct $46.

Oh, well, um...

My husband's gonna kill me.

But all right... I'll have two.

All right.

And you can just tell him

that one of those

is for your mother-in-law...

Here we have to call them by feature.

And all for $149.99.

Oh!

Oh, it certainly is.

It's on its way.

Arggh!

Hey, kiddo. Kiddo.

What's going on?

The... The...

The fire!

Fire?

In there!

What do you mean?

What are you doing with the dryer?

It... It just came on.

I was just looking at it.

Well, you shouldn't

play with things like that, David.

You could get hurt.

Dad, I wasn't playing with it.

It just came on

and it was making a noise.

I was in...

by...

By the television.

What about the television?

Well, come here and look,

and I'll show you. Come on.

It was really strange.

I mean... there was, like,

no picture at all...

There are times when you...

Listen, David, didn't we

decide on a bedtime for you tonight?

I mean, it was

right after the ballgame.

Dad, I was in bed.

That's weird.

What is?

Uh, it won't turn off.

A Winston money-back guarantee.

Next time you need to stop on a dime,

make sure you have

my Winston brakes.

It's your main power switch.

It shorted right out.

What caused it to short out?

Well, okay.

Take, uh...

Take your voltage

coming in the main, uh,

power station in Canoga Park.

Now... the electric company

will tell you

that it's running

smooth and steady.

That's a lie.

I mean, you put that thing

under a magnifying scope,

that smooth, steady line starts

looking like King Kong's EKG.

90-volt drop-offs,

130-volt spikes.

Pulses, they're called.

So, uh, what

are you saying?

Are you saying

that I should call the electric company?

Well, no.

See, uh, in order to

melt the switch like this...

in my opinion, take a couple

thousand volts at least.

And if the electric company

ever burped that loud,

it'd blow every damn circuit

breaker in your house...

Like that.

Then I don't understand.

Hey, join the club.

You know, there's a lot

of things I don't understand.

Take lightning.

You know,

my... grandpa's house was...

Look, there wasn't

any lightning last night, was there?

You want me to admit it?

Okay, I admit it.

I don't have a goddamn clue

what happened to your TV set.

Did you get a look at the back of

that thing when I had it off?

I mean, you got

enough chips in there

to send a spaceship to Saturn.

You know what I do?

I read the book.

I do what it says.

Hey, dude, check it out.

Wow, what a skater.

What a nerd.

Ooh!

Wipeout!

Hmm.

Hey, watch out!

Geek.

Turkey.

How sad. Oh, please. Oh, my...

Man, that was bad.

What's your name?

My name's Stevie.

You just moved in, huh?

Yeah, just for a while.

How come just for a while?

Because I don't live here.

I'm just visiting.

Well, then,

where do you live?

In Colorado, with my mother.

Well, then, where does

your dad live?

Here. That's who I'm visiting.

You're not very smart,

you know.

We can play there now,

you know.

Where?

Inside his house?

No!

I wouldn't go in there

for anything.

And anyway,

my mom won't let me.

We can play

in his yard now.

So?

We couldn't used to.

He was mean.

He used to yell

all kind of crazy things at us.

Like what?

See how that grass

is dead and everything?

He used to say we did that.

He used to say we'd sneak around

at night and put poison on it.

That's pretty crazy,

all right.

My mom said he was crazy because

of what happened to his wife.

What?

Man... that was bad.

One day we were all around

after school,

and we started to hear

all this yelling and screaming.

The police came

and an ambulance.

And nobody knew

what happened.

Some of the kids said

he must have murdered her.

Did he?

What's your name?

David.

So, what happened?

She was washing the dishes.

And she turned on

the garbage disposal.

And there was

something stuck in it,

with this metal thing.

It wasn't even

a knife or a fork.

Some kind of metal thing.

And when she turned it on,

it shot that metal thing

right up into her face.

Shot it up just like a gun.

Isn't that bad?

It shot it up

right through her eyeball.

Flight 5009.

- Five-oh-nine?

- Yes, that's right.

Mom, listen, I know that.

I know, but...

Please, Mom.

Just listen, okay?

Mom, will you please

just listen?

Mom.

Please.

Would you just listen?

I know.

I know that, Mom, but...

I want to come home.

Please?

Why can't I just

come home now?

Because

it scares me here.

I don't know why.

It just does.

No, it's not Ellen.

She's okay.

Yeah, she took me riding.

Yeah, the other day.

No. How can I?

I don't even see him,

you know?

He works all day.

And then when he

gets home, he's tired.

and all he wants to do

is watch television or something.

Yeah. I know, but...

Ellen!

What is it?

Ellen, look at that.

Look at what?

Well, right there

by the house.

The grass.

Is it getting enough water?

I watered it

yesterday.

Oh.

Yeah, well...

maybe it's

getting too much.

Well, um... I'll check

the sprinklers.

Maybe they're not reaching there.

Okay.

Good.

Yeah, look,

and don't forget about the tickets, okay?

Just, uh, call him

as soon as he's open,

and then let me know.

Oh, and tell him that I can come

and pick 'em up on my lunch hour.

Don't worry.

- See you at 6.

- Okay.

- Bye-bye.

- Bye.

Yes. Oh, great.

Uh, no, my husband

will pick them up at 1:00.

Is that all right?

Well, I'm going to have

to replace the whole lawn.

You see, it's all...

scorched completely.

- That'll have to all come up.

- Okay.

And then there's the shrubbery.

Hey, David.

You're getting wet.

Come on. I'll make you

some breakfast.

- Okay?

- Good.

See you.

We can leave

as soon as your dad gets back from work.

We can have hot dogs

at the ballpark.

Does that sound okay?

Yeah.

Well, you don't sound

very enthusiastic.

What happened to his grass?

Huh?

Well, you know,

the man across the street.

He said the kids were putting

poison on it, didn't he?

Well...

he said a lot of things

after his wife died.

Paranoid, you know?

I guess he just stopped

taking care of things

and began to blame

everyone else.

So it started to die

after his wife got killed?

Yeah.

Well, no, actually,

it was before,

but... it got a lot worse

afterwards.

Why this sudden interest

in poor Mr. Jordan's grass?

I don't know.

What's the matter?

You look like

you've seen a ghost.

Stevie, come on.

No, I don't want to.

Stevie, come on.

Don't be such a wimp.

No. My mother told me

not to. It's dangerous.

Come on, Stevie.

She's not gonna even know.

No, I don't want to.

Stevie, if you don't

come on right now,

I'm not gonna play

with you ever again.

Come on.

Stevie!

Stevie, get back here

right now!

Stevie!

No way!

Stevie!

Oh, man.

Whoa.

What are you doing here?

Spooky... ain't it?

Uh-huh.

Did it talk to you?

The voice in the wires.

See?

Buzz!

Yeah. Fried him like an onion.

Why do you figure

he did it?

Smashed the place up,

I mean.

I... I...

I don't know.

Ellen just said he went,

like, crazy one night.

Crazy, hmm?

That's exactly what those

son of a bitches would say.

They probably had

that poor bastard

thinking he was

going crazy.

I know all about it.

I must have seen 20 houses...

just like this one.

And after the first few...

I started having me

a real close look.

And I know

what I know, boy.

But I'm not telling it.

Not anymore.

No, sir.

Let them call these other poor

devils crazy if they want to,

but not me.

All right! Sports fans, let's go.

Great.

Great seats, love.

Look at this.

First base line.

Uh, I think maybe

you should sit down.

We seem to have a problem.

Well, it's a long drive,

you know?

We don't want to be late.

Okay.

What is it?

David went over to

the Jordan house this afternoon.

Oh. Ah.

That wasn't very smart, David.

I mean, it's dangerous there.

You could get hurt.

I know. I know.

But listen, please.

He seems to think that what

happened at the Jordan house

is gonna happen here.

It comes in

through the wires.

I... I...

I saw it.

And... And that night that

you were gone, I felt it.

Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

Come on, now. Just slow down.

You felt what?

The voice in the wires.

He's met some crazy old man

in the Jordan house, and...

He's not crazy.

And Mr. Jordan wasn't crazy.

And the thing that killed him

is in here now.

And I just don't want

to stay here anymore.

And I just want

to get out of

this house right now!

Yeah.

Look, look. Look...

Bill, Why don't we...?

Why don't you go upstairs

for a little while

and let me and Ellen

talk about this, okay?

No!

Look! Please.

Just for a little while, okay?

I'm sorry.

Hey. Hey, come on.

Hey. What do you think

you're doing?

Hey...

Hey. Come on.

- What? What?

- No, Dad.

Dad, I don't want to stay

in the house.

- Dad. No, Dad, please!

- Okay.

- No! Dad!

- Come on.

Don't make me

go in there!

No, Dad, I don't want

to go in there!

No! No, Dad!

No! Dad, no!

No, I don't want to go.

No, Dad,

you're hurting me. Stop it.

Dad, you're hurting me!

I don't want to go

back in the house! No!

Did you...?

Did you talk to him?

The old guy.

Well, after David calmed down,

I went over to talk to him,

but he wasn't there.

His truck was gone.

I don't know.

Do you think...

something could be wrong

with the electricity?

It's just that David

seems so scared.

Yeah. Well, I mean,

of course he's scared.

It was...

It was that night

we left him alone, see.

That was

the beginning of it.

And today... jeez.

I mean, he goes

into that house,

and some crazy bastard

jumps down at him out of the ceiling.

I mean, jeez... I mean, that

would have scared me to death.

Weren't you supposed to

take this back?

Oh, I did.

Um, they called this morning.

There was something wrong

with the tape.

It must have happened

when the TV set broke.

I had to buy it.

It cost 60 bucks.

It's just that

if he leaves in this state...

he's never gonna want to

come back here again.

And how can I be his father

if I never see him?

I mean, you understand?

I love him. I'm...

He's gonna be okay.

Let's get some sleep.

We'll work it out.

Okay.

I hope it was a lousy game.

David.

I'm sorry I have to

go to this meeting.

You sure you don't

want to come over with me to the campus?

You could walk around.

You gonna be

all right?

Yeah.

Are you sure?

Mm-hm.

- Ahh, Vincent, get him...

- Steven!

I said come in here.

Your lunch is ready.

Okay! I'm coming!

Psh!

Hi.

What are you doing?

Cobras are attacking

the Terror Dome.

Wanna play? Come on,

you can be the Cobras.

No, not really.

Okay, you can be

the GI Joes.

No.

How do you get to

the airport?

Why do you want to

go to the airport?

Is there a bus

or something?

No, I don't think so.

It's a long way away.

Are you going back

to Colorado?

Yeah.

I have the ticket,

I just gotta get

the time changed.

Steven, get in here

right now.

Okay!

Maybe my mom

will drive you.

Do you want me to ask her?

No, it's okay.

Thanks, Steve.

Steven, right now!

Okay!

So, what are

you gonna do?

All right. Still keeps Will alive.

Oh, there's the sound.

That means we're out of time.

We'll automatically now start

revealing one letter at a time.

This is crucial.

The first person to buzz in

with the correct answer

wins the money

in the puzzle bank,

and in this case,

will win the game.

So be very careful.

Hands on your buzzers.

You may buzz in as soon

as the next letter is revealed

but not before,

or you'll be disqualified.

Ready? Go.

"H." Will?

"They lived happily ever after."

And you will, yes.

"They lived happily ever after."

David.

Oh, my God.

He was a lot more scared than hurt.

The bruises from the collision

and mild shock

is what the doctor said.

The gas didn't

really hurt him.

But if he'd been there

any longer...

Oh, Jesus!

Mr. Rockland?

Can I show you something?

Yeah. Sure.

I slugged your line

with a new piece of pipe,

so now I'm gonna

turn the main back on,

relight all your pilots.

Right here's your problem.

Split wide open.

Actually, you're pretty lucky.

Lucky?

Oh, yeah.

Volume of gas you had in here,

and the ignition of that

station wagon turned on,

this whole place

could have blown sky-high.

Good grief.

Look, I mean...

what could have

caused this pipe to split like this?

Metal fatigue.

You see that window

right there.

Afternoon sun comes

blazing through there,

right on that spot.

Pipe heats up.

Sun moves on,

it cools back down.

Expansion, contraction.

Just wears the metal out,

till one day...

Anyway, that new pipe

ought to last you

another 10, 20 years.

You might think about

getting some Sheetrock

on this wall, though,

help insulate it.

Yeah, I will.

Okay, well,

I'll get that main right on.

Thank you very much.

And then everything will be

just fine again, won't it?

Ma'am?

Oh, something happens,

and it almost kills someone.

And... you people come here

and you talk about pulses

and metal fatigue,

and you pull out

some pipe or switch,

and you say, "Here you are. Just

slap in a new one of these."

And you don't know

what's happening.

I mean, you don't know what's

really happening here, do you?

- Hey, hey.

- Do you?

Ellen, come on.

Come on.

Calm down.

Calm down now.

- Bill, what is it?

- Please.

Why is it doing this to us?

What does it want?

What "it"?

Uh... last night

I couldn't sleep.

I just... lay in bed,

listening.

You know, all

the little sounds there are at night.

The furnace turning on and

off, the refrigerator and...

I heard something else.

Something... growing

inside the house.

Getting stronger.

The voice in the wires?

And what do you call

all this? An accident?

Yeah! Yeah!

Yes, that's exactly what

I call it. An accident.

I mean, what do you

want me to call it?

You want me to believe

that there's some thing in the house

that is trying

to kill my son?

Come on.

I mean, that's crazy.

Yes.

That's what we called him.

Poor Mr. Jordan.

We said he was crazy.

Was he?

Okay, okay.

Listen to me now.

Listen. What happened

today was this.

Right here.

Look at it. You see?

This is what happened.

It's not a monster.

It's not a plot.

It's not a plan.

It's not a conspiracy.

It just is what it is.

It's a stupid

hunk of metal.

And how many more things

like this are there?

How many more things that

we don't even know about

till someday one of them breaks

and almost kills one of us?

Goddamn it!

Stop it! Stop it!

I mean, what is this about?!

Do you wanna leave too?

Is that it?

I mean, I don't know

what's happening.

Do you wanna leave too?

Oh, God!

Bill... you're gonna be

late for your meeting.

I could have done that.

Yeah... okay.

So if anything

should happen... anything...

just call me,

and I'll come right home.

Okay.

I promise.

Yes, sir.

I'll be over at the place

on Thornton.

There's no phone there.

So if you run into a hitch,

just work around it.

Don't leave. Um...

I want you to tell me

about the houses.

Tell you what, lady?

You know what.

You told... my son.

I want you to tell me.

Lady, I didn't tell

nobody around here nothing.

and I'll be glad

to tell you the same thing.

Okay.

Turn off the faucets...

and I'll tell you

what to do.

To do?

Yes... do.

Or would you rather

hide in your hole

and hope for the best?

Pull the plug, lady.

Pull all the plugs.

Disconnect yourself.

Fast.

And not just up there

at the top of the pole.

That don't mean nothing.

It don't just

crawl in on your wires.

It ain't a thing.

It's a signal.

A pulse.

Kind of like...

a voice.

So, what you've got to do

is to get rid of anything

in your house

that might have ears

to hear it.

Me... I'm back to wood fires

and kerosene lamps.

My wife would like to kill me.

But she thought I was nuts when

I built the fallout shelter.

But you wait and see.

I was right about that one too.

I heard a man on TV one time

say that... paranoia

is just another word

for heightened awareness.

But you do what

you want to, lady.

What the hell do I know?

I'm... crazy.

Wait!

The hardware store in the mall

has got a special on kerosene.

It smells some,

but it sure does make

a pretty light.

Ohh!

Ellen? You up there?

Dad!

Hi. Wow! Oh, yeah.

Brr!

Ooh.

Oh.

I, uh...

I talked to your mother.

She's coming on Sunday.

To take me back?

Well, see, I was hoping

that we could just sit down

and maybe

talk things over and...

Damn! Hot!

Oh! Oh!

David!

Honey! Honey!

Honey! I can't get it open!

I gotta get something

to break it.

David!

Okay, okay. I'm coming.

I'm coming.

Bill.

How is she?

She's in

the burn unit.

They say she could be okay,

but I don't know.

Video CD player could be yours

for only $189.

Bill.

Hey, all right.

Okay.

Oh.

Bill, if you need anything,

Ruby and I will be upstairs.

We'll get some fresh linen

and things for the guest room.

Okay. Thanks.

Ellen's okay.

I mean, I know... it looked

pretty bad and everything,

but, uh...

they said... that

she would just have to

stay there

in the hospital for a while.

And without Ellen here...

Your mom is coming here

tomorrow morning.

And... we're gonna

pack you up and...

And you can go with her.

Home.

Look, so Howard...

Howard just said just now

that you could stay here

tonight if you wanted to.

And it would be okay with me.

I mean, if it would

make you feel better.

Can you stay here too?

Sure.

If you want me to.

Dad?

David?

Mm.

Ahh!

Dad?

Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!

Come on.

Okay.

Help!

Somebody!

Dad!

Help!

Help! Help!

Help!

Help! Help! Help!

Help!

Help! Help!

David!

- Put this blanket...

- Okay.

Okay.

Go on! Oh!

- Where are the keys?

- No!

This way!

No, Dad!

Dad!

- Okay?

- Okay...

Hurry, Dad. Hurry!

Stand back.

Dad...

Bill, stop it!

Hey!

For God's sake!

Frank!

What are you doing?

Where's the cops?

What the hell are you doing?

Drop it. Drop the axe!

Dad!

Drop it!

I said, drop it!

NOW!

That was your house that you

just wrecked, wasn't it?

Yes, it was. Yes.

You must both be crazy.

Yes, we are.

We're - both of us.

We are,

aren't we?

We're crazy.

We're...

Yeah.

Oh, God, are we crazy.

Pulse (1988) - full transcript