Pulse (2005)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

In the early 2000s a string of horror films were made in Japan that has been referred to as "J-horror". These films were huge hits there and made their way to the US where fans were fascinated with them. So much so that Hollywood took notice and began remaking them left and right. Probably most famous of these are THE RING and THE GRUDGE. Another early entry was PULSE starring Kristen Bell but it wasn't as well received. Now Arrow Video has released a great version of the original film on blu-ray for fans to enjoy.The story involves two separate groups of friends experiencing paranormal encounters that are leaving a mark on them, some literally. The first group works together in a business that supplies plants to buyers. When their tech guy fails to show for work or answer his phone, they check up on him. While there, he walks into another room and hangs himself. Gruesome enough but then they begin to look at a disc he left behind which shows ghostly images from his apartment. A return visit has them exposed to his ghost as well.The second story involves a college student who finds something odd going on as well. When he asks a professor to help, they too discover ghostly images online. These images have an effect on some that view them and they begin to disappear. As someone hypothesizes what happens to souls when they leave here? Do they go to another dimension? And then the question is raised what happens when, after the millions that have died over time, that dimension begins to fill up? Do they try and make their way back? Eventually the two stories intersect with the leads of both uniting to try and discover the answer to these questions. It is their journey and what they discover that makes the film more chilling than you would expect.Some will be turned off to the way this story unfolds. The back and forth between tales, the dismal look of the entire landscape and the somber tone that it emits start to finish. This is not an in your face or jump start scare style film. It is one that creeps into you, crawls under your skin and makes you look over your shoulder even though you know nothing is there. It takes the ghost story we've become acquainted with and melds it with the world of computers, even if these computers look cumbersome since the movie was made in 2001. The pace is slow as the horror unfolds before your eyes. This makes for a movie that deserves attention.Arrow Video, as always, presents this in the best form possible with a hi def 1080p transfer. The extras include a new interview with writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, a new interview with cinematographer Junichiro Hayashi, THE HORROR OF ISOLATION a new video appreciation featuring Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett, an archive making of documentary, premiere footage from the Cannes Film Festival, cast and crew introductions from the opening day screenings in Tokyo, trailers and TV spots and a reversible sleeve with newly commissioned artwork.

Disregard any issues you may have for Asian genre-cinema ie Ju-On or Ringu. This creepfest along with A Tale of Two Sisters and Audition, is one of those flicks that just make the hair stand up on your neck.Pulse is incredibly creepy, bleak, and dreadful. The best way to watch is just you and the screen you're watching it on. Turn off the cell and turn off the lights because Pulse jumped right into areas of fear that I had never experienced. I had to pause the film and turn the light on for a moment because it was just THAT UNSETTLING. No "boos" or loud thumps. Visual and auditory discomfort and confusion left me dizzied and delighted. I am happy to find films that scare me. It just comes to show that with a little research you can find a film that can do the same; with or without critical praise.

The movie is one of those social commentary attempts (which are usually dull and a failure as a "movie") combined with supposed "horror". Basically it's all about isolation and being lonely (to the point of death). But the movie is so horrifically written and pathetically paced that this point takes forever to be brought across.The movie is basically a super boring "pretty camera-work" project that delivers nothing. There's a done to death commentary on how lonely and disconnected people are, with what is supposedly an attempt at "psychological horror" that fails completely. No horror, no good moral, no nothing.Give this movie a pass. It's not worth wasting your time with.

I am writing this review because I'm too scared to walk to my room and get in bed.This movie is terrifying. It's slow, but keeps you completely engaged the entire time. The plot is confusing, but adds to its appeal. It's open to interpretation, which I like in a movie. I don't want everything laid out. Where's the mystery in that? You don't realize what's happening until it creeps up on you very, very gradually. You think you have the movie pinned, then you start questioning what's going on. Everything feels wrong, out of place, and extremely dreadful throughout. You won't like how you feel, but you'll want to see it through anyway.If you like plot-driven movies where there's a place for everything and everything in its place, so to speak, this one's not for you. This movie's focus is atmosphere and pure psychological terror, not logic.There's definitely some social commentary in this one. It's a thoughtful film and for being low-budget, the special effects are well-done. You'll be thinking about what this movie means to you.I really want to warn everyone who is considering watching this- it will haunt you. The ghost images are NOT your everyday American shock-fest. They will burrow into your psyche and live there, probably for a long time. And they are not pleasant.I honestly almost wish I hadn't seen this movie...