Pulse (Kairo) (JP) (V)
| release date | February 21 2006 |
| studio | Magnolia Pictures |
| director | Kiyoshi Kurosawa |
| writer | Kiyoshi Kurosawa |
| starring | Haruhiko Katô, Kumiko Aso, Koyuki, Kurume Arisaka, Masatoshi Matsuo, Shinji Takeda, Jun Fubuki Shun Sugata |
| rating | R |
| site | pulsefilm.com |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
1 Comments
Good original idea, but got so slow i lost interest. Then at the ending…i was confused.
some spooky parts in it but like most of these Asian ghost stories it’s all the same.
Much better than the remake, but like most Japanese horror it lacks the coherentness of American films. What I like about it is it’s bleakness and the sense of despair it portrays. Much like the Japanese versions of American remakes it’s more of a survival film with no antagonist to defeat, so there’s a surreal quality to it. In the process there’s a lot of creepy moments.
oh the Japanese and thier amazing movie ideas…if onyl one day they get the money to use it on amazing special effects!
The japanese films are just awseome, everything’s intense & original.
an amazing cult classic from Japan, very intense and creepy. fuck the remake.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s film is a slow-paced mystery that effectively builds tension and a stark, bleak atmosphere. After a young man commits suicide, his friends see his ghostly image on the internet. Soon others follow. The images themselves are not particularly creepy, but rather it is their enigmatic purpose. As an overwhelming feeling of loneliness spreads people begin committing suicide. It is this despair that permeates through the film, assisted by depictions of empty streets and a devastated Tokyo, and which stays with the viewer after it is over. At times, however, the film moves a bit too slowly, and the scenes focus so heavily on a few characters in fairly remote corners of the city that it is not immediately apparent until rather too abruptly that the city is nearly empty. Of course, this may be a critique of the physically isolated nature of the internet age, but a more visible or gradual decline may have made the premise more believable, and it is this inability to completely buy into the film’s premise that withholds satisfaction and ultimately keeps it from being great. That being said, there are some fantastic pieces, including one of the most realistic and well-timed suicides I have ever seen – to say more on this would diminish its shock value.
While the message of the movie and some of its reasoning are at times questionable (which can admittedly be par for the course in Japanese horror), the mystery, if not the answer, are well worth the exploration.
C+
Another good J-horror film. Has a spooky, surreal atmosphere and a genuine creepiness throughout.
A lot remained unexplained and it’s a very slow film, but it leaves you thinking.
“Pulse” is not a great film. It could not have been. But as a horror film as well as a film that says something useful about technology, it is still pretty darn good. Yes, I enjoyed, admired, and was even a little bit scared by “Pulse”. It’s a fun movie that I would recommend to just about any horror fan, for its craft and atmospheric creepiness. It’s one of the better Asian films to be remade later on into something far worse. It’s not the slightest bit bland.
“Pulse” is what I would describe as techno-horror. It uses technology as its plot element, and puts a horror element into the spin. In this case, the horror comes in the form of a ghastly website. The tag-line for the site says “Do you want to meet a ghost?” Most people would interpret the message as a joke, a virus; a fraud. But of course, when you accept, you see what appears to be a real ghost. You probably will not know the person that you so gleefully gaze upon. And what happens in the video just…depends.
“Pulse” has good characters, not great ones, but individuals who are respectable enough to be worth following. So good characters: check. Scary horror film? Well, judging my the eerie sound-work and taut visuals, I would have to say: check. I definitely admire what “Pulse” sets out to do; provide horror without gore, and intelligent ideas without being pretentious and over-the-top in its execution. It can be surreal, smart, and incredibly entertaining all at the same time. Plus, I like that techno-freaky noise that plays whenever something odd, freaky, creepy, or scary happens. If anything in “Pulse” lingers with me, then it’s that one thing.
Another great Japanese horror film, original and terrifying, the Japanese know how to tell original stories of terror, with a great atmosphere. The movie is not a work of art is not even perfect, but it is original with blunt and shocking moments, which is enough to keep us trapped and entertained throughout the film and that’s a lot considering the prevailing mediocrity.
I can totally see why Pulse bores the hell out of some people! It moves at a very slow pace, and if ghost stories do nothing for you then you’ll most certainly nod off. Also, if you’re like my family and you demand an ugly decapitation every ten minutes, then you aren’t going to be wanting to watch this. However, ghost films do do it for me. I find them extremely creepy and Pulse proves itself to be one of the creepiest I’ve seen. It all comes down to what scares you. I rarely get scared. The last film to properly scare me was Noroi: The Curse, however a couple of scenes in Pulse scared the Jesus out of me! I have just two words… Wobbly ghost.
To me Noroi: The Curse is a masterclass in how to scare your audience. It filled me with fear, and its ending is a real gut-puncher. Whilst Pulse doesn’t quite make itself quite as scary (nor as good) as Noroi, it is still one of the creepiest films I’ve seen in a long time. It’s pretty essential that you watch this on your own, in the dark, with the sound turned up (there’s some great use of sound and music) in order to get the full chilling experience. The wobbly ghost scene is one of the scariest things I’ve seen in my life! I can’t explain it, but it gave me chills and I had to look away! Something about the movement was so unnatural and unnerving, I was thinking that I was going to be in for one hell of a ride! Unfortunately however, because this scene happens reasonably early on, there is only one other scene that almost matches its sheer scariness.
Don’t get me wrong, Pulse features a string of supremely creepy scenes. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen before in the ghost department as its slow pace builds up a wonderfully eerie atmosphere (I can’t see the American remake being any where near as masterful as this!) and some scenes are full of choking suspense, such as when the man first gets contact from the website. My only problem with the film is that it lacked character development, and I would’ve liked to have gotten to know the characters better. Also, the plot sometimes doesn’t make much sense (I don’t understand the majority of the third act) and the characters have strange reactions e.g. A woman see someone committing suicide but then it’s never mentioned again. The whole apocalyptic element is also not fully explained, however I admired its ambition.
But Pulse is really about its creepy atmosphere and that’s what it succeeds in doing. It’s the type of film that places its disturbing images under your brain and stays there. I never get scared, and it’s refreshing to actually feel terrified at what I’m watching. I didn’t find Pulse boring, although some scenes did drag it was never boring. I just found it a little confusing. Nevertheless, Pulse is one of the best ghost films I’ve seen. It relies on its stupendous atmosphere and seriously creepy moments. One scene towards the end, nearly scared me as much as the wobbly ghost! Pulse has the ability to send shivers down your spine and have your hair stand on end, which certainly makes it something special in my eyes! However, I was slightly disappointed that that terrifying face on the poster wasn’t in it!