Pulse Review (Film, 2005) The Archives #31DaysofHorror
Quick editorial note: the release date for Pulse for most of the world was 2001 or 2002. The United States only got a limited release in 2005 in anticipation of the 2006 remake being released.
Pulse is one of the better known J-Horror films from the late 90s/early 00’s. It is a technology/chain letter hybrid horror occupying an odd space between The Ring and Suicide Club. Essentially a metaphor for the increasing distance between people as the Internet gains prominence in the world, Pulse involves a strange website that invites its viewers to see a ghost. If you agree, bad things happen.
The metaphor is illustrated in multiple ways throughout the film. There is a computer program designed by a computer science grad student involving white dots that die if they touch but are pulled towards each other if they separate. The big bad website lets you watch other people effected by the website but does not allow you to connect with them. People effected by the website are not able to communicate or interact with the living in a meaningful way once the website takes hold. The ghosts who do emerge from the growing sprawl of technology as a traumatic cultural event move slowly, like a picture slowly coming into focus on dial-up Internet, and can only make a connection if no one stops the potential victim from waiting for the ghost to load.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa directs his own screenplay with a lot of long, unsettling shots where not much happens. Frankly, I had to take a break while watching the film because the framing of the action is so unconventional and disorienting. Trapped in a darkened theater, I probably would have been crying.
The actors are sometimes in focus, though never placed in one of the powerful cinematic positions (thirds, quarters, etc.) onscreen. One of the early sequences in the film sees three minutes of workers at a rooftop garden entering and exiting the greenhouse in different combinations. Nothing actually happens (aside from a small discussion about a missing floppy disk from a coworker). It’s not meant to be plot. It’s meant to establish the conceit of the film. Kurosawa is going to force you to look everywhere but the action onscreen to understand why the leaves of a bush are shot clearer than the actors and important props in the story.
Pulse does have a big issue. There really isn’t much of a plot at all. Even The Ring connected the varied deaths and diversions with the strong throughline of Reiko and Ryuoji trying to save little Yoichi from the curse of the tape. Pulse doesn’t have that. Pulse introduces and drops important characters throughout the entire film with no explanation. The narrative does not have a throughline beyond the well-handled metaphor. That’s just not enough substance to carry an almost two hour ghost story.
Still, the visual style and metaphor of Pulse make it an interesting watch for those intrigued by the J-Horror style. It is scary and the reveal of the most aggressive ghost (performed by a dancer ticking and contorting her own body movements) is spectacular.
Pulse is streaming on Hoopla and Tubi.
