Pulse (2001)
Kairo
Pulse DVD Movie Review
Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse is a modern ghost story. The movie starts when Michi visits her friend Taguchi to get a floppy disk that she needs for work. After the lethargic and downtrodden Taguchi gives Michi the disk, he walks into another room and hangs himself. Michi then takes the disc to work and gives it to her coworker, Yabe. When Yabe puts the disk in the computer he is instantly taken to a website with what looks like a webcam view of Taguchi's shadowy figure. After seeing this, Yabe starts to act similar to the way Taguchi did before killing himself.
At the same time, in a different part of the city, Kawashima attempts to teach himself how to use the internet. After his computer displays a series of error messages he is taken to the same website as Yabe, but this time in a different room with a different shadowy figure. The message: "Do you want to meet a ghost?" appears on his screen. Frightened by what he saw, Kawashima hurriedly turns off the computer and goes to bed. The next day Kawashima goes to the computer lab at the local university and asks Harue, one of the computer science students, about what happened to his computer. Harue helps Kawashima investigate the strange website. Eventually, they both enlist the help of Yoshizaki, a grad student with a theory to explain the sudden increase of supernatural activity and how it relates to the mysterious website.
Pulse is much more than a typical Asian ghost story. Kurosawa achieved his goal by overwhelming the audience with an unnerving sense of dread. He used the same technique in his earlier movie, Cure. With Pulse, the discomfort sets in early and intensifies as the movie progresses.
Another quality that sets this movie apart from most standard Asian horror cinema is Kurosawa's use of subtext. There are several different themes under the surface. The ghosts in this movie are terribly lonely and they use that despair to trap their victims in a state of limbo. Also, the medium that the ghosts use to communicate with the living world is the internet. This aspect of the story reinforces the Asian anti-technology mindset that is present in many other movies.
The cinematographer, Junichiro Hayashi, did a wonderful job of using muted, drab colors and lighting to fuel the mood of the picture. Also, the production design by Tomoyuki Maruo makes the sets seem claustrophobic, even further enhancing the creepiness of this movie.
Overall, Pulse is an excellent horror movie. The narrative is plot driven. This is a welcome diversion from the startling scenes in more action oriented western horror movies. The unsettling mood that this film invokes, coupled with its large amount of truly creepy scenes make this movie a must see for all horror movie fans.
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