Pulse/Kairo is an interesting horror film that is more interested in existentialism, loneliness and how technology is making us all zombies than actual horror. That is not to say that this film is devoid of scares. There are several creepy scenes including one with a wobbling ghost that is pretty disturbing. You will know when you see this sequence. What Kiyoshi Kurosawa succeeds with this film whereas many other Hollywood horror films fail is in the pervasive sense of doom and unease throughout the film. Frightful images are teased and shown selectively not explicitly, therefore making the audience imagine more. It is also amazing how that even though Tokyo is one of the most populated cities in the world, Kurosawa makes the city seem extremely sparse, empty, drenched in rain, clouds and industrial gloom. This is even before the people started to disappear in the film.
The story itself is rather simple and maybe influenced by other J horror flilms like "Ringu" and "Ju-On". Something is happening to a bunch of lonely internet users and they start to disappear or kill themselves in irrational fashions. Two parallel stories, involving a young woman and a young man converge to form one near the end. It is a ghost story about how the realm of the dead is full and the dead are invading our world. It gets all confusing and somewhat moot because I don't think Kurosawa's main obsession is with the ghost story. Rather, Kurosawa seems fascinated by irrational behaviors, loneliness and the mysteries of the unknown. Similar to his great "Cure" and the frustrating "Charisma". "Pulse/Kairo" ranks somewhere in between. Not as enigmatic and powerful as "Cure", but definitely a film worth seeing. It does ask questions about what humanity's future will be when technology will replace all human interactions. Is techonology bringing humans together or driving us further apart making us lonely souls who are like ghosts? I wonder....
This is the most polished looking Kurosawa film to date with some pretty fancy effects and solid production values. The acting is fine overall but similar to other J-horror films. Definitely a must see for fans of horror and supernatural.
Rated R for frightful images
Aspect Ratio: 1.85
Japanese
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