Slideshow
PULSE
回路
Japan, 2001
Directed and written by Kiyoshi Kurosawa
With Kumiko Asō, Haruhiko Kato, Koyuki Kato
Approx. 119 min. 35mm print courtesy Japan Foundation.
“In turn-of-the-21st century Tokyo, youths are attracted by the promise of connection offered by the explosion of internet access. Yet the downside of this technological shift hits a small group of young coworkers hard when one of their own seems prompted to suicide by strange images he has found online. Soon, these images are popping up everywhere and death spreads like a virus throughout the city and eventually the world. Kurosawa’s master class in alienated dread spawned a U.S. remake, but the original remains the best of the internet-horror subgenre and one of the most terrifying movies ever made. “Ultimately, this is a film about apocalypse, and Kurosawa replaces the usual auguries of panic and fear with a slow, creeping realization that the world is being emptied of human life.” – Michael Koresky, Reverse Shot
Reviews
“There are very few moments in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's fiercely original, thrillingly creepy horror movie that don't evoke a dreamlike dread of the truly unknown.”
– The New York Times
“Where the average Japanese horror flick is petulant and nasty, PULSE is dolorous, shivery, and surreal.”
– Wesley Morris