Octane or Pulse, those are TWO completely incongruous random titles they chose to stick on this one! Teenage girl is kidnapped/seduced by a cult with cultdom's flimsiest charter ever that was probably outlined on a napkin with the intention of filling in the rest later. Come to think of it, that's probably how the
screenplay was developed too.I watched this after seeing Madeleine Stowe in the credits, and after 45 minutes of waiting for her to show up I suddenly realized she was the mother of the teenager and onscreen most of the time, and I didn't even recognize her! She has aged very well and a peculiar haircut also threw me off. Without her terrific performance during the first hour (as the final 30 minutes consists solely of running, sneaking, and hiding) this is bargain basement 1-star fodder that doesn't deserve an actress of her quality. Yet she manages to infuse her character with intelligence, wit, and slight dementia to pull me into her predicament. Sadly the shoddy story and plodding camerawork don't contribute anything, and the needless dark, sickly green color scheme doesn't help either.
July 6, 2010
