Review of Pulse

Introduction

`Pulse` is an incredible film. It certainly has a narrative in common with `The Grudge` and `The Ring` (this time it`s the internet that contains the terror), and possibly shares some commonality with `Blair Witch` in terms of its style and approach, but its real kinship is with David Lynch and David Cronenberg.

It`s a nightmarish journey in the truest sense. No vampires running in slow motion across graveyards here. Rather half-heard whispers, shadows flitting in peripheral vision, an over-bearing sense of dread. Completely unsettling and yet utterly compelling.

Interestingly, the movie had very mixed reviews on release. Judged purely on a blood and guts horror basis, the movie failed to deliver. No flesh-eating zombies here. But for many (and I count myself amongst them), `Pulse` was an incredible experience. A genuine expose of the nature of terror; of alienation, futility, loneliness, hopelessness. An existential nightmare.

The movie was originally released in 2001, and was called `Kairo`. Rumours abound that it`s set to have an American make-over ("Ringu" into "The Ring," and "Ju-on" into "The Grudge."). But it`s hard to imagine how, without getting Lynch or Cronenberg at the controls, that the US will do it any justice.

So what`s it about? It`s about a bunch of twenty somethings who work in a nursery selling plants. In typical Tokyo style, the entire nursery is laid out on the rooftop. The movie opens with one amongst them on board a commercial ship looking out to sea, but swiftly cuts back to the start of the story which shows them getting anxious about one of their colleagues failure to come back with a programme on a disc that`s been promised and which is clearly needed for a business pitch of some sort. One of the group decides to pay him a visit.

What follows is a nightmarish journey into the peripheries of the imagination. The flat appears to be empty though the colleague is seen as a half-shadow behind a set of plastic curtains. Following a brief conversation, the girl turns her attention back to finding the disc and when she returns to the conversation she discovers her colleague hanged in a spare room. Another colleague revisits the flat later and discovers a room in the block that has a door sealed with red tape. Naturally he feels compelled to enter. What he finds (and the way that it`s portrayed) is truly nightmarish. When he starts receiving calls on his mobile that have a single machine like voice simply repeating the word `help`, accompanied by a phone picture of his dead colleagues empty room, he know something seriously bad is happening.

A second group (unrelated to the first) are students. One amongst them is finding that, when he tries to connect to the Internet for the first time, that his machine is being hijacked by a `hacker` who seems to be calling him from out of the void. Even as he sleeps, his machine seems able to switch itself on and reconnect with the ghost-like being that seems to be trying to make contact. Seeking help from a female student who is more Internet savvy, their lives also descend into indescribably psychological horror.

It appears that space is running out for the afterlife and that they need space within the living domain. And they`re keen to increase their number too; encouraging suicide and death amongst those they are intent on contacting.

It`s not a fast moving film. It`s like slow dripping water torture, almost unbearable to watch at times, and yet utterly compelling too. There`s no way that you`ll want to switch this one off until you reach the end, and even then, the unanswered questions will leave all but the most hardy awake till dawn.

Though I relied on subtitles to make sense of dialogue, all acting seemed convincing enough, and generally underplayed to add to the almost documentary style realism of the piece. Some viewers may recognise Koyuki, (computer lab lady) who also appeared in "The Last Samurai".

Video

This is a fine transfer of a movie that is, visually, pretty unremarkable though deliberately so. It`s full of dark, muted tones, and a gritty realism that looks almost documentary-like.

Audio

The 5.1 will completely `do your head in`. From the menu on, weird half-whispers from the rear speakers will fill you with dread, as will what sounds like cows being tortured and gloomy, pulsing electronica. In short, a damn fine sound-bed that really enhances the experience. Horrible but brilliant.

Features

There are a couple of trailers here which reflect quite well the atmosphere and narrative of this disturbing movie. Then there`s a 40-minute `Making of` featurette that`s a real fly-on-the-wall piece. There`s no narration and very few interviews though plenty of opportunity to see the laid back Kiyoshi Kurosawa direct. Some of his comments on the nature of ghosts are as disturbing as the movie itself when he describes them as nothing more than `empty shells` with all the emotion and passion of their human form removed.

Conclusion

`Pulse` is one of the most disturbing horror films that I`ve ever seen. There`s nothing here for lovers of blood and gore, flesh eating zombies, chainsaw brandishing serial killer, wolfmen or vampires. But for those who appreciate a more cerebral experience, where the atmosphere of genuinely terrifying nightmares is brilliantly reflected, there`s plenty here to admire.

In truth, `Pulse` has more in common with the films of David Lynch and David Cronenberg than with natural Japanese bedfellows, `Ringu` and `Ju-on` (remade as `The Ring` and `The Grudge` respectively). It`s a slow moving film that starts with a queasy sense of dread and cranks this unease up to almost unbearable levels before it ends.

The film has been directed with great imagination and restraint, making the half-glimpsed peripheral shadows omni-present throughout genuinely terrifying. It may not be everyone`s idea of a fun night in, though for those with an interest in such things, I thoroughly recommend it. Quickly too before the US remake translates it to something less subtle!