Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Am I Missing Something?

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Blistering performances.

I cannot help but to think of the evil Captain Kirk in the Star Trek TOS: Mirror, Mirror. I'm sorry but that is what runs through my mind seeing this film. If you want to see a good slasher film with William Shatner the I recommend Visiting Hours (1982) - that is a good movie to me! Yes I love Bill Shatner but I could not sit though Impulse. It's just too lame and awful for me to sit an 1 1/2 hours forcing myself to watch it. I wish I could but life is too short for that and there are other great films to watch - including one's with The Shat! Yes the film is funny - because it's hard to see Bill in this role. But it's just not "him" so I have problems with watching it. And the fact the film is just overall bad no matter who played the role of Matt Stone.The film gets one extra point from me just for The Shat! 2/10

Well, most people would probably go into this film with low expectations; but I was actually hoping for something decent from Impulse, not because of anything suggesting it would be good; but simply because I often enjoy stories of murderers and savvy children; with the likes of The Stepfather, Julie Darling and Michael Winner's masterpiece Scream for Help being good examples of films like this one that I have enjoyed. Impulse certainly had the potential to sit alongside the aforementioned films on a list of enjoyable flicks of this nature; but unfortunately, something just doesn't work and most things about this film are a disappointment. The plot focuses on Matt Stone, a conman who makes a living through seducing lonely women and having them lose all their savings by way of 'investing' in his inheritance scheme. Stone is a broken man, owing to an incident involving his mother and a boyfriend of hers, which we see at the start of the film. Problems start for Stone when the irritating daughter of his latest victim begins to become suspicious of what he's doing with her mother...Impulse stars William Shatner, who, of course, is most famous for his role in the popular series Star Trek. I was never a fan of Star Trek, but I do like Shatner's work on cult films such as Kingdom of the Spiders and, more importantly, The Intruder; which mean he should be well cut out for a role like this. He actually does rather well in the lead role; giving it just the right amount of sleaze to work. The rest of the cast isn't bad either (with one or two exceptions...e.g. Oddjob), but the film falls short on numerous other areas, which masks the decent performance. The film is actually rather boring, which is quite a shock considering the plot and the fact that Shatner gets seen in a range of ridiculous outfits. It's really pretty standard fare; The Stepfather had a lot to set itself apart from just the central plot, whereas this film doesn't have much at all. It all boils down to the sort of conclusion you would expect too, like the rest of the film; there aren't many surprises. This isn't a complete disaster; it has its moments, but I cant really recommend that anyone goes out of their way to find it.

We begin our lurid tale with Shatner's character a preteen, sword-gutting some airhead bruiser that his slutty alcoholic mother brought home...flash to today(the mid-70s), and grown-up Shatner has a wardrobe of the finest wallpaper-prints and polyester leisure wear in history(you can almost SMELL the Aqua-Velva). His "thing" is swindling widowed women out of their savings and "offing" them(and occasionally going bonkers while biting on his pinky-finger). When the young daughter of one victim-to-be witnesses him grooving on his funky psycho-killer scene, a tense cat-and-mouse game begins.The unintentional hilarity of this film has become a thing of lore...and justly so. All that's saving it from absolute indignity is the strong performance from Ruth Roman(who brought professionalism to a few other gonzo sub-B films in her later career, like THE BABY, THE KILLING KIND, and DAY OF THE ANIMALS). Also, the juvenile role of little Tina is fairly well played, but her character is poorly written and occasionally quite irritating. Shatner sails out of orbit in an unforgettable blood-and-thunder performance which could make any Klaus Kinski role look restrained by comparison. This is "must see to believe" cinemania...a minor masterwork of utter disgrace that entertains for(mostly) all the wrong reasons.6/10

I'll never forget the first time I saw Impulse....I had picked it up at the local video store and rented it sight-unseen. After all, with William Shatner starring in a 1974 "b" horror film, how could I go wrong?From the opening graphics of the movie title ripping apart to reveal a close up of Shatner's face, the expression alone on his face was priceless...but joyfully, that is just the beginning of this masterpiece!!!The film is a gem, with Shatner giving 110% throughout, and also Ruth Roman ("Mama" in The Baby, 1974). The clothes, the acting, the slow-paced car chase through an automatic car wash....this movie is worth seeing over and over again!!!