Pulse Reviews

• Art cinema with blood.

  
  By A2EDZH51XHFA9B on 2006-06-28
  Kairo (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2001)
  
  While Kiyoshi Kurosawa is no relation to the great Akira Kurosawa, he does seem to be Japan's most likely director, at the present time, to fill the master's shoes. Kairo is another stunning set piece in his arsenal, a worthy successor to Kurosawa's previous films and a fine work in its own right.
  
  Kurosawa's trademark impressionist style haunts this tale of the ghosts in the machine. It follows, alternately, two characters-- Michi (Casshern's Kumiko Aso), a worker at a greenhouse, and Kawashima (Haruhiko Kato), a University student, as they live through an apocalypse about which few people know anything except that it involves people disappearing (or committing suicide) and red duct tape. It seems to be connected to a website called The Forbidden Room, which keeps appearing mysteriously on Kawashima's computer.
  
  Kairo is to Japanese horror film what Akira is to anime; it has become exceptionally well-known in a very short amount of time, but it's probably not the best film for beginners to start off with. While the storyline is linear, it's told in such a piecemeal fashion, leaving a good deal to the viewer's imagination, that those new to the particularly Japanese style of making horror films might find it a bit hard to follow. (This is generally true of Kurosawa's films; his Silence of the Lambs homage, Cure, follows the same general path. Hideo Nakata's best film, Chaos, is another example.) It would be better for the Japanese horror neophyte to start off with Nakata's justly-famous Ring and Dark Water to get a taste of the wonderful atmosphere of Japanese horror before diving into the wonderful world of Kurosawa; that said, his films are a must for any horror film aficionado looking for the cutting edge of the medium. Once you've gotten into the spirit of Japanese horro, get to know Kiyoshi Kurosawa's work. You won't regret it. ****
  
  

• an intriguing failure

  
  By A19ZXK9HHVRV1X on 2006-11-20
  **1/2
  
  The Japanese ghost story "Pulse" provides us with an intriguing premise that is only sporadically well executed. A kind of "Carnival of Souls" for the cyber generation, the film revolves around restless spirits who have figured out a way to use personal computers as portals back into the real world.
  
  Unfortunately, due to the restraints placed on the film by its extremely low budget, the visuals are often as murky as the storyline. Much of the time we can't tell what is going on, partly because the picture is so grainy, and partly because the screenplay itself is so muddled. Characters come and go and we have no idea who they are or what indeed is happening to them. There are, admittedly, some creepy, otherworldly moments in the film, but they are undercut by the desultory pacing and the overall lack of clarity. Valiantly, the filmmakers have thrown in a few existentialist comments about the pointlessness and loneliness of existence, but they aren't nearly sufficient to help the movie overcome its many weaknesses.
  
  An admirable failure, "Pulse" at least earns points for trying - but not for succeeding in its endeavor.
  
  

• Sublimely transcendent psycho-socio commentary in disguise

  
  By A3ETDO8R97KK39 on 2006-08-05
  Anyone who has had friendhips fade away and into the past, tried to "stay connected" through the internet; or re-connect, will understand "Pulse". Anyone who has watched a real world friend disappear into the virtual world of MySpace, blogs, internet gaming and the like will understand. Anyone trying to hold on to the past will understand. Anyone who has ever had to let go will understand. All of us who have ever lived haunted by ghosts will understand.
  
  Anyone looking for a slasher flick or even "The 6th Sense" will not understand.
  
  

• The technology that supposedly bind us, truly seperates us

  
  By A39LHFS2ONNKGM on 2006-03-12
  First off, let me say that a lot of people who see this movie were probably expecting a gory, horrific tale (judging from the dvd cover), but it is much, much more in-depth then that. In my most recent viewing of the movie, I have found a more metaphorically "layered" film that begs to be viewed more than once to fully understand it's context. I assume most people only see it once, then they put it off as "boring" or "non-comprehensible" afterwards. That is somewhat true if your'e going into the film expecting cheaps thrills, scares and gore, but this is the kind of film that requires patience and analysis, actions that are rarely required for horror films nowadays....
  
  The director, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, has always been an advocate for supplying his horror films with more than just horror; he delves into the pyschological state of his characters presenting the viewer with a better sense of what the characters motives are in his movies. He shoots PULSE with a keen eye to the enviroment and showcases a steadily deterioration of that enviroment in which the story takes place. Decayed buildings, dark hallways, and natural lighting give the movie a dark tone that stays with the viewer throughout the whole movie. I also have to note the philosophical overtone that the film presents as well; that the technology that supposedly binds us closer, in fact drives us further apart. Great premise and direction.
  
  As for the casting, I personally felt the they played their parts well, showcasing the terror and isolation they experience in a believable fashion. I specifically appreciated Haruhiko Kato's performance, who plays Kawashima in the film. His willingness to discover the truth about what is happening to the world seems very believable. The other two big named actors (to Japanese movie-goers at least) are Kumiko Aso and Koyuki, the latter playing in the movie "The Last Samurai". Their performances were believable as well.
  
  As for the music, most of it was just ambient noise which just seems fitting for this type of movie. It created a eery atmosphere that heightened certain scenes in the film.
  
  So for my final words, I have to say this; Pulse is a pure psychological thriller/horror, but it's more to the liking of say, Stanley Kubricks "The Shining" with the atmosphere of David Fincher's "Seven". The horror or fear aspect of the film truly comes from the atmosphere rather than blood or violence, which I believe is totally absent from the film. So is it a masterpiece? I would have to say a profoundly "Yes", but please view it multiple times and just let it sink in, then you will truly the beauty that is "PULSE".
  
  

• Do You Want to Meet a Ghost?

  
  By A2Z6BXEMDDLJ5Z on 2006-04-18
  Some will complain that this film is too subtle, leaving too much to the viewer to explain. I however found this to be one of Pulse's greatest strengths. I'm equally sure the American remake will spell everything out for us in a connect-the-dots paint-by-numbers fashion, dumbing everything down for the average viewer, thereby ruining much of what's great about the film. Pulse is an intentionally slow and meandering horror film, a mood and pacing that was entirely necessary to make the viewer FEEL the message of loneliness that lies at the film's core. We are all alone in the world in a Conradian sense; we live as we dream...alone. This is one of the cheery messages of this film. Pulse compares people to dots in a computer program shown in the film, floating around individually, isolated; when two dots finally collide, they destroy each other. The plot involves a very novel idea: when we die we go somewhere else. (That's not the novel idea.) The novelty comes in the fact that the place that we go to after death isn't anywhere special, it's just another finite space. Like our world, that space is also becoming overpopulated. Dead people, therefore, are overflowing into our world. They reach us through our technology, mainly, our computers. People seem to be aware of what's going on, and mark rooms that have a ghost in them by sealing the doors and windows with red tape, until a demolition crew destroys one such "forbidden room." In Pulse, ghosts don't want to kill people. If they did, then there'd just be more ghosts. So what happens? Well, you'll just have to watch. Pulse wins big kudos for containing some of the downright scariest haunted house scenes I've ever seen. They are all subtle, but extremely effective. Pulse uses its "online ghosts" as an effective metaphor, pointing up the ironic fact that the world-wide web, which was supposed to "bring everyone together," has really only further isolated people. By the way, Stephen King's new book Cell seems to in part have ripped this film off. On the sheer creep-out factor, this film is a winner all the way.
  
  
• tedious and with little drive
  By AKYNIMNI8LOBP on 2006-10-18
  The latest trend in horror is to address an old idea: the struggle of characters against and unidentifiable force that will always have power over them. There is a nice tension available in these kinds of works, that of anxious rage against insurmountable powers. But when does that tension just become a bland montage of vague threats that leave the lack of resolution disappointing rather than empathic? Pulse falls in the disappointing category--there are nice overtones of the problem with an overly technical world, but these are highly unrealized, and the movie seems to prefer pulling away from any kind of empathy rather than truly trying to scare the s*** out of the audience by letting them in just enough to really fear what they don't know.
  
  
  
• A REALLY SCARY MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  By A1SD1UXI06H3Q2 on 2006-01-27
  You haven't seen anything like Käiro (Pulse). It is one of the most original horror films I have seen (And I have seen many). It is a movie you will enjoy watching over and over, with different people and to see their reactions! It is a little slow as many japanese films are, but it is worth every minute. What happens if ghosts can not go wherever they go because there are too many of them already? What happens if they stay on Earth?
  
  
• A Twist On Apocaliptic Tales.
  By A2241A3K492SQ0 on 2006-02-20
  Many films have attempted the end of days. Zombie films such as Dawn Of The Dead, 28 Days Later, 12 Monkeys to name a few. All of them have their own story but never had their own Feel. Get Ready for PULSE. A J-horror film to it's own completely that will leave you thinking about the film long after a viewing.
  
  To keep this short and without going into ruining the story for you. This is not like any Asian Horror film you've seen before. It's not for those looking for a gore fest but, those that like artistic films with a message may enjoy this much. It's not so easy to understand but in Japanese culture films don't spoon feed the story to the viewer. This way you get to take away from it what you feel and still (hopefully) understand the story. It's not so hard and you don't have to look far to see the undertone of this film is that we are all living in a world where we are all seperate. There is no sense of community and we are living like ghosts. If you aren't, then you're one of the few who isn't paralized by consumerism and (more importantly) internet. We've never been so connected yet so separate.
  
  I think it's perfect for anyone planning on comparing the American release or who's in the mood for something deep and atmospheric. If you're into Teen horror flix or the famous blood soaked asian shock flix this is not for you. This is unto itself and will pull those viewers with a though process deep inside only to turn you out full of thoughts and urging for a second viewing.
  
  Only dissapointment is the distribution company was so cheap that they FORCE you to watch their previews. If you try to skip them you can't get into the menu. Although the previews were interesting they had nothing to do with the film in any relation and this company will not get another purchase from me unless they had something I definately wanted. The price for the DVD is so high... you should be able to have a working menu if you find the way around those previews. Making the menu not work if you pass around the previews is only an annoyance and is a total shame on the Production company and the studios. I hope the stingy hollywood studios don't catch on to the process because I would honestly stop buying DVDs that perform like this.
  
  Feature presentation 4 STARS
  DVD EXTRAS 2 STARS (a little thin/Ok for Asian film)
  SUBS -FAILED A LITTLE DELAY! COME ON! $20 DVD!
  DVD Transfer 5 STARS Feature Presentation looks great
  DVD Production -FAILED (forced previews dud menu if bypassed)
  
  Magnolia DVD Production is the worst of all Asian turn outs. Check companies like TARTAN for QUALITY Films THIS IS NOT WORTH 20$ BUT MAYBE $9.99 IF YOU CAN BUY THE INTERNATIONAL OFFICAL RELEASE MAGNOLIA DOESN'T DESERVE $20 FOR THIS TRANSFER.
  
  
• Art-house horror at its very best
  By AQ99SEXJG6XM4 on 2006-03-12
  First off, this is the kind of movie that's either gonna resinate with you and hold your soul up against a wall until it stains, or it's just gonna slide off of you and you'll walk away from it cursing it as a waste of your valuable time. It is pure "art-house horror", (which obviously I'm a huge fan of), and it works into you with atmosphere and imagery kind of like, as another reviewer suggested, a Lynch or a Cronenberg film.
  
  Like what "Mulholland Drive" did to the traditional tragic love story, this does for the traditional ghost story...it turns it on its head and reverberates through you, causing you to think about it and feel its effects long after the viewing. It inserts creepy and puzzling imagery with long bouts of meloncholic silence and contemplation in between. It is not fast paced, but slow and deliberate, as if each strange occurance is timed just right to slowly awaken the characters as well as the audience to its larger agenda.
  
  It is, for lack of a better word, haunting. And it does this because between the lines and beyond the sealed door and behind the glowing screen, we begin to realize, it is US. It really isn't as much a ghost story as it is an interesting statement on what society is becoming with the progression of values based on individuality as opposed to community.
  
  If you don't want to think about this kind of stuff when watching a horror film, then you will hate it. But if you enjoy the kind of horror film that haunts you because it has more on its mind than just making you piss your pants with orchestral hits and the severing of limbs, then you will probably at the very least appreciate its efforts. For me, it's because it does achieve its higher goals so well that I rank it as my all-time favorite from the "J-Horror" genre - if not my favorite horror film of all time.
  
  
• Creepy film; So-so DVD
  By A12H3XF9BPUKDL on 2006-04-09
  "Pulse" is a leisurely paced and subtle horror movie with creepy, but not gruesome imagery. If you are looking for a horror flick with a lot of fast paced shocks, then this is probably not the film for you. However, if you are in the mood for a more artsy and symbolic horror movie with some genuine chills scattered about, then you might find this movie to your liking.
  
  The DVD by Magnolia is okay, but suffers from rather poorly timed English subtitles that often lag a second or two behind the person speaking. It's irritating that they couldn't have done a more professional job than this. There's also a forced trailer at the beginning of the disc, though on some players you can get past that by hitting the stop button and then the menu button.
  
  
• This is a kind of movie that creeps up on you like late afternoon shadow.
  By A3C6CZC2JP67VK on 2007-04-20
  Death is surly the building block of the horror genre. No matter what the subject, every film comes back to that one basic fear. And why not? Nothing scares us more than the uncertainty of the grave. Pulse (aka Kairo) is a film that takes that fear one step further.
  
  Produced in the wake of the Ring phenomenon, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 2001 apocolyptic masterpiece was unfairly lost in the import shuffle before landing in the grubby hands of Miramax, where it was promptly shelved to pave the way for their upcoming remake (God help us) and give Harvey Weinstein a bigger bonus in his paycheck. Thankfully, Magnolia Pictures has swooped in to save the day after the studio's much-publicized split and fans everywhere finally have a chance to see one of horror's greatest unsung films. Pulse concerns a rash of suicides that seem to revolve around a strange internet site called "The Forbidden Room." Visitors are greated with eerie static web-cam images and begin to exhibit awkward and reclusive behavior soon after logging on. When a friend hangs himself in his apartment, a group of youngsters decide to investigate and stumble onto ghostly forces which are spreading at a global rate.
  
  Kurosawa expertly fuses Japan's tech-based fears with his own avant-garde style and weaves a surreal nightmare that slowly caves in on the viewer. Using abandoned locales, ambient sound effects, and subtle creep-outs, this film has an atmosphere thick enough to insulate your house. The effect is like roaming through a twisted industrial maze where the dead lurk around every corner. While it may sound akin to countless Asian horrors, the story offers much more than long-haired ghosts skulking through the shadows. Rather than serving up traditional "vengeful spirits" or "death curse countdowns" the hauntings act as a complex allegory for isolation and loneliness in the age of technology. The internet's ethereal images slowly bleed into the real world, as sanity collapses and reality crumbles away to reveal the ultimate dark truth. When all is said and done, the scariest aspect of Pulse isn't the ghosts themselves, but what they represent.
  
  Typically, Kurosawa's abstract narrative offers little in the way of explanation and will leave most casual viewers scratching their scalps. But those looking for cerebral terror will be enraptured, both by its creepy, deliberate style and introspective subtext. Even now, when ghost stories have oversaturated the genre, Pulse holds up as a true J-horror classic.
  
  
  
• A depressing statement about our society...
  By A2NFLHENCYAXGD on 2006-03-12
  I watched this movie with my boyfriend who is a big fan of japanese horror flicks. I haven't seen anything like this before, there was no flashy orchestra or bass-filled techno music... just silence. This made the movie more enjoyble and also set the mood for its themes of immense loneliness. People looking for instantaneous fright and truckloads of blood should just go rent a Friday the 13th flick, this movie scares you in a different way... It explores things alot of us really -don't- want to think about, such as suicide and the afterlife.
  
  This movie has pretty good quotes too. "I was alone in life, but death is eternal loneliness." And also the way it portrays the internet as being something that only increases people's loneliness. "People don't really connect, you know... They're just like those dots in the program representing humans. We all live totally separate." The pain of loss when Michii turns into specks of ash which fly out the window and her friend tries to catch them screaming "Don't go!" The apocalyptic sense of being the last two people left alive in the world.
  
  The only annoying thing about this movie were the subtitles (and I will not watch dubs) the timing on them just wasn't very good. An american remake is being made by Wes Craven which I think will spell everything out in a way that will be more digestible for the western audience.
  
  
• the original
  By A2JD9YDHLC76IB on 2007-01-05
  I picked up the Americanized Pulse today and the blurb on the back states " the year's most original horror movie," and yes, this was. In 2005 when it came out.
  I will be completely honest, technologically this is not a great movie. It is presented like the other j-horror films (Grudge, Dark Water, etc.) in a fairly low budget way; little dialogue, thinly dressed sets, lowkey lighting. Physically there isn't a lot here. It is, however, the most unsettling movie I've seen in a long time.
  This movie, like the other original j-horror movies, is all about atmosphere. It is creepy in a way that I thought filmmakers had forgotten, but then the Japanese seem to understand the creepiness necessary for the best ghost stories.
  There are no monsters. Nothing jumping out to make you jump without providing any other reason than suprise. No gore or blood.
  
  These are good things.
  
  What the film does though is get in your head and, if you have been paying attention to the world around us it makes you realize how isolated we are making ourselves.
  It should go without saying that most Americans won't have a clue what the movie is saying. It seems that if there isn't a monster to heap our scorn and anger on there isn't a plot. Most younger Americans especially will be scratching their heads in bewilderment (look at the other reviews). They have no perspective and if it isn't spoonfed to them it isn't important to know.
  As the audience we don't always know or have to understand WHY something is happening to the characters. The characters in the movie don't understand what is happening themselves. They're just trying to survive it, which is what life is mostly like.
  This movie made me think about it for days after I watched it which is a sign that it's working.
  If you're looking for pretty people in peril and the answers fed to you pick the other one. If you're looking for thoughtful stay with the original japanese versions.
  
  
• Brilliant and terrifying
  By A2HW33PQSRHLNO on 2007-02-27
  Kiyoshi Kurosawa has accomplished here what American and Japanese directors have been attempting (with little success) for the past decade: to create a horror film with merit that involves the internet, television, or any other virtual vehicle for the spooky. I didn't expect to like this at all because I've grown so disgusted with the kid crawling out of the tv, the kid crawling out of the well, the kid crawling out of both and people turning red/blue/green when people see the kid's face, etc--it was an absurd premise in the first place and the hype surrounding both the original "Ring" and the remake nearly killed the magic both had in advance.
  
  I was wrong. While I don't pretend to completely understand what Kurosawa was trying to say entirely, the painful isolation of modern man is driven home with the aid of technology (computers specifically), and every scene smells of alienation, desolation, and sheer terror. When Taguchi commits suicide in front of Harue it is a statement of sorts, a kind of rejection and revenge upon one more day of a hollow and frightening life which kickstarts an intentional or unintentional metaphysical revolution.
  
  Setting aside the philosophical message, there scenes in this movie so bone-chilling that I can't help but compare it to classics of the genre. When Yabe is stalked and confronted by a figure who seems to sway and jerk with the movement of a dial-up hallucination and he hides under the dresser to avoid his/her gaze, the rest of the sequence is unforgettable.
  
  I imagine this will be received differently by many people. One reviewer mentioned "Carnival of Souls" in comparison, and that is absolutely correct, only this transcends "Carnival of Souls". Absolute masterpiece.
  
  
• Very impressive indeed, the work of a genuine talent.
  By A1SBRISKS7PH7U on 2007-03-25
  This is an excellent Japanese horror movie. It's thoughtful, creepy, unsettling & very well directed by Kurosawa Kiyoshi. On the one hand you have your standard urban horror themes of loneliness & technology-as-villain (in this case computers & the net). On the other there's this speculation about what might be waiting for us 'on the other side.' Is death, as one of the characters wonders aloud at one point, a chance to be reunited with loved ones & so no longer endure the day to day loneliness of life? But as things turn out, being dead is just as miserable & painful an experience for the ghosts as being alive is for the human characters, something Kurosawa demonstrates in a number of genuinely unsettling sequences.
  
  Kiyoshi has an excellent & mature style - demonstrating a preference for long takes (a style that'll drive impatient teen horror fans up the wall) & shocks achieved within the frame rather than through flashy editing. Two sequences epitomise this - in one a young woman searches an apartment for her co-worker in vain while a shadowy figure rises silently from a chair at the back of the room behind her. It might not sound terribly creepy but honestly I think my heart skipped a beat when that happened. In the other - & this is undoubtedly one of the films most talked about moments - a woman jumps to her death & the camera unblinkingly records her fall & impact with no cutting away.
  
  But don't get the idea this is some J-horror gorefest because it isn't. What's so refreshing for me about 'Pulse' is that rather than harping on gore & shocks for two hours the director takes the time to lay out an intriguing story. One in which ghosts are flooding back into our world because there's no more room in theirs. The only trouble being that when ghosts & real people come into physical contact with each other neither can survive (the humans leave behind a smudgy blackened residue which recalls the blast shadows of Hiroshima victims).
  
  Throughout Pulse Kurosawa balances the increasingly apocalyptic imagery of a hi-tech Tokyo in which life has all but ceased with an insistently humanist theme. Our characters clearly care for each other & the story culminates with a small group of survivors setting sail toward an uncertain future. Meanwhile the heroine of the story comes to realise that having found a temporary happiness with the young student who helped her escape she now has the strength to go on.
  
  I'd like to think that's really what Kurosawa is getting at here. Not for him the simple scares of a ghost story, nor the fashionable sense of nihilism (hey, we're all doomed!) which so appeals to moody teens, but the message that in life the small bonds we make with each other, those passing moments of happiness & kindness, these are what shield us from loneliness & enable us to keep going in an unforgiving universe. Seen that way it makes for an appropriate visual metaphor that the final shot of Pulse is a stunning birds-eye view of a tiny shipful of humanity adrift in a vast ocean.
  
  I look forward to seeing more films by Kurosawa Kiyoshi.
  
  One last point: a sequence in Pulse depicts a jetliner seen from street level falling out of the sky & crashing into a building. On the DVD featurette there's a behind-the-scenes glimpse of a location recce for this particular scene. The date? June 2000. Talk about prophetic.
  
  
• AMAZING
  By A1NHUUMD625VL9 on 2006-08-06
  i loved this movie. its not scary and i dont think it was ment to be. there are a few good scary parts though. it was more of a great story. it is sad and scientific with bit of horror mixed in. I cannot wait to see Americas sad attempt at this great movie. america is going to try to make it scary and will ruin it!! anyway i recommend this to everyone in the world!!
  
  
• A pulse thats alive and well
  By A23FPOXQ6HIN4J on 2006-10-31
  I love horror movies. Love them. Sometimes though, that love keeps me from enjoying alot of them. I feel I've seen so many that typical scares don't work anymore. Or is it that most movies are so derivative and void of any true desire to unsettle an audince that they really don't work on anyone. Either way, theres nothing more frustrating than going to see a movie that you expect to scare you and realizing that its just more of the same crap. I love either having a good time with a horror movie or being terrified by it and Kairo definatly fits into the latter category.
  The story is basically a simple one, ghosts are taking over by using the internet to breach our world. Anyone who encounters one can't take it and kills themselves. Thats pretty much it, on the surface... but the movie has so much more going on for it as far as a statement about how technology is driving us as humans apart, but thats not why we're watching it is it? The main question is, is it scary and I can answer "oh my God yes!"
  The first half of the movie adds so many subtle touches and presents scenes that end in jarring scares in such a way that they shock you and make you realize you haven't seen anything like this before. kurosawa knows how to craft a scene that seems to be going nowhere end with a bang, but a quiet one. Thats what got me, the fact that I almost never saw the scares coming and they were so a part of the scenery almost that it really seemed as if Id just seen a ghost, until the first time you actually see one in all its glory creeping towards one of the lead characters. I can truly say I've never seen a ghost in any movie move like that and I don't know that I want to again. Movies like this show whats missing in most big-budget horror movies today,atmosphere and a genuine willingness to unnerve a crowd. The second half however can't hold on to the genuinly terrifying moments of the first, but involves you as the story goes deeper and the characters figure out what is happening to them...and the world. Definatly worth a look and I'd recommend it to own. Tonight being Halloween, you know Im going to show it to people.
  
  
• What's Up With These Subtitles?
  By A1D9E28XK23VGF on 2006-02-23
  The movie is GREAT but I have a real problem with the subtitles. I've been watching subtitled movies for years and this is the first one where the actors speak and i have to wait a second to read the subtitle. Is anyone else noticing this? it doesn't kill the movie but it is definitely annoying.
  
  
• No Pulse in "Pulse"
  By A1L8VND1P6YZ5V on 2006-02-27
  This movie was DOA. If truly it frightens you, then for heaven's sake, stay away from movies like "The Grudge." At 119 minutes, "Pulse" is about 118 minutes too long. There is a fake plane crash near the end. Don't bother to wait for it.
  
  
• I wasted 5 bucks on renting this movie
  By A3IKD2GZWR5PMO on 2006-02-27
  Well, what can I say. I am an avid horror fan. I also love to be scared. I feel that is what horror is all about, not just blood and guts, but a real scare is my favorite. I admitt, when I saw The Blair Witch project, and the house appeared out of the blue at the end, it really freaked me out. When I watched The Grudge for the first time in the theatre, it scared the hell out of me. Even movies like High Tension I felt was a really scary film, not for the faint at heart. Pulse was not. You can read other reviews on the plot so I am not going to bore you with that. The images for the most part were not scary except one toward the very end. The movie was hard to understand. Two different stories run pretty much back and forth, one having nothing to do with the other. The ending itself was strange and hard to understand. I love the whole Japanese horror thing (especially The Audition which is a great film by the way), but this movie did nothing for me. Don't waste your money. The DVD cover is more scary than the movie.
  
  
• all style - no substance
  By A1X786ARUHJJ6D on 2006-03-03
  like most current ghost and horror movies coming out of japan, in "pulse", almost nothing happens and what does is incomprehensible. some reviewers have raved about this flick being a masterpiece of a metaphor about the fragmentation of interpersonal relationship at least partially caused by the internet. if so, i missed the boat. it is all style, no substance, but the style of many of the images: deserted, burning gray tokyo, the grimy interiors and exteriors of housing, the horticultural workplace of some of the protagonists, the university computer room, the deserted factory, can be compelling, hence the two stars.
  
  
• Cerebral Impressionist Horror....may not be for everyone.
  By A3KV7FISWAW06A on 2006-06-15
  Kairo or "Pulse" as it's unforunately loosely translated isn't driven by plot or characters but the theme of loneliness and the visual manifestations of said theme. Kiyoshi Kurosawa fills his film with haunting imagery to evoke feelings of alienation: The opening shots of Michi standing alone on the deck of a boat , bloodless but disturbing depictions of suicide, surreal images of people disappearing into their shadows, and finally the empty streets of the film's climax.
  
  The fear of dying alone is a strong sub-theme that provides much of the film's horror elements. The ghosts of the film are merely normal people lurking in the shadows, a constant reminder of our morality. There is no god or happy afterlife in this film, death is but a continuation of the isolation we face as individuals during our mortal lives. The film's look is of washed grey and green colors, adding to the surreal feel. This is not a movie to be interupted literally, not even the internet plot.
  
  While the film has it's fair share of unsettling moments and almost unbearable dread the true horror is the unthinkable thoughts it provokes, the fact that human beings are individuals mentally disconnected from each other, we are born alone and we die alone, and that is truly terrifying. This is true for the characters as well, despite teased relationships no one connects in a satisfying way like you would expect them to, they are all alone in the beginning of the movie and remain so until the end. The film is slow moving with things as big as plane crashes coming off as being incredibly subtle, so viewers looking for big scares, indepth characters, a coherent plot, or just plain traditional film making be warned. This is a film of heavy mood and heavy thought that will deeply disturb your mind if you let it in.
  
  
• Intelligent
  By A3H98E0KOCWYND on 2006-08-07
  Another hit for Japanese horror! I thoroughly enjoyed this film and all the suspense it maintains throughout. Don't even bother renting it if you're a collector. Just run out and buy it. You won't be dissapointed.
  
  
• A modern masterpiece of horror!
  By ALH8OD35DMXFK on 2006-03-05
  To call PULSE "boring" or "incomprehensible" is to miss the point entirely. There's a big difference between a film that is slow and confusing, and a film that is surreal and deliberately-paced. This is definately the latter.
  
  Writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa is an art-house filmmaker similar to David Lynch or David Cronenberg; you'll either understand what he's trying to do, or you won't.
  
  PULSE ranks as one of the scariest ghost films of all time, taking the creepy style of Hideo Nakata's RING and amping it up to apocolyptic levels. Every frame is soaked with pure dread and there are images that will haunt you till your dying day. There's a rich, complex story going on here...but Kurosawa doesn't spoon-feed it to you. He demands that you be perceptive enough to read between the lines and figure out what's happening.
  
  If you're looking for cheap jump scares and twist endings, don't bother. But if you're in the mood for a slow-burn cerebral horror movie, it doesn't get any better than PULSE!
  
  
• Awesome Movie
  By A2I16SKF3RHED6 on 2006-04-22
  This is the type of movie to be watched in the dark, late at night with either a girl cuddled up tight next to you or, if alone, with headphones on. Some of the scariest ghost scenes I have ever witnessed. I literally watched parts of the movie through my partially open fingers. If you enjoy ghost stories that make you shiver and give you nightmares afterwards, you will love this movie. No John Carpenter type shock scares, just lots and lots of atmosphere. Watch it!!
  
  
• Boring
  By ANBQIWHO9JRFS on 2006-03-20
  After I first saw this I gave it a much too kind 3 star review cause I was a big fan of Kurosawa's 'Cure' and I wanted to like this movie more than I did. Yeah, 'Pulse' has got a number of creepy moments, and it could be decent if you chopped it down by 40 minutes, but at this length it's just remarkably tiresome. The characters are utterly unmemorable and the the horror scenes themselves are generic, played out Asian horror cliches. They're passably well done as far as that kinda thing goes, but nothing exciting and the movie has a remarkable amount of down time which is filled simplistic, existentialist prattling. People wanna tell you this says something about alienation in the technological age, but it doesn't, nothing beyond the basic assertion that we are alienated.
  
  Not recommended. If you wanna see some Kiyoshi Kurosawa films, check out 'Cure' or 'Doppelganger' or maybe 'Seance'. (Though that last one definitely ain't great.)
  
  Grade: D+
  
  
• Creepy and surreal
  By A3LPD7NTGFH7V4 on 2006-08-04
  Pulse is more than just a horror movie, it's a visual allegory for how technology is alienating us from actual human contact. We are all becoming ghosts in the machine. The premise of Pulse is fairly straight forward: the afterlife is finite and now souls have to find a space to spillover into, namely the internet and cell phone technology. With that said, if you go into Pulse expecting jump out at you frights or a nail biting scarefest you will be disappointed. Pulse is a quiet, slowly paced atmospheric thriller. It's very surreal. Many, many things are never explained (the red tape for example) and you may not actually "get" it when it's over. Not to say that this is a bad film, it's not. There's plenty of scares (the scene with the couch for example) that make the film play out like a nightmare (check out Kurosawa's Cure which is another quiet nightmarish thriller that is as good, if not better, than Pulse). My only complaint is at two hours long Pulse easily could have been shorter and just as effective. A must see for any J-horror fan. Judging from the previews of the American remake the scares have been amped up and new scares have been added which I'm sure will take away from the quiet simplicity of the original. Check this one out first before seeing the remake.
  
  
  
• Death/Life/Death/Life...?
  By APJYLVF195UTO on 2006-09-22
  The similarities between this film and Tarkovsky's Zerkalo (Mirror) are undeniable. Both films are concerned with themes of human connection, separation (alternately dealt with by the name of 'mortality', at times), and redemption, and both leave a lot to the discernment of the individual viewer.
  
  As an example, both films depend heavily on dramatic bass-notes that create a disturbing and insistent sense of the impending in the viewer. The difference is that Tarkovsky accomplishes this through subtle clues on a psychological level, without excessive dialogue and, essentially, without much sound at all. Pulse, on the other hand, cleverly dispenses with all but the auditory soundscape, and establishes emotional cues through the minimalistic device of a constantly-rumbling, unassociated, deep-bass noise that increases and decreases according to when the viewer is meant to be scared stiff. This makes Pulse a much easier movie to watch than Zerkalo, because ultimately it makes far less sense.
  
  I was only kidding when I gave it four stars.
  
  
  
• I don't remember it being like this...
  By A3XXR823C083P on 2006-02-23
  Well, the comment about the subtitles is true, there is a 2 second delay. When I saw it in the theater, the caption was in real time. The captioning is somewhat messed up. An example is when they displayed the title of the movie, the captioning was under the Japanese text and not in the middle of the screen. No doubt it is a great movie, but it seems that scenes were cut from the original. Like the music would just suddenly cut into a new scene. Hmm, strange. And another thing, its listed unrated, but in the back its clearly rated R. Is it just my copy cuz if it is I'm totally POed.
  
  
• STRANGE MOVIE!!!
  By A2PMQH87R1H3QU on 2006-03-05
  I just rent and watched this movie. Glad I rent it, didn't buy it lol..But this is not horror movie at all...more in category of mystery/suspense more like it for sure!! Is kind of slow paste..But have little here and there suspense. . But very confusing and hard to keep up and fallow the story because your eyes most the times in the damn "subtitle" such as I HATE!!...BUT who ever done the shade and shadow in this movie should get the Oscar...because he done hell of the job. Loved it in that part only!...anyway if u curious gives a rental worth..Nothing more!
  
  

• Cure
• Ju-On 2
• Ju-on (The Grudge)
• Dark Water
• Shutter