"Would you like to meet a ghost?" This foreboding question is posed to a young man by his own computer, suddenly able to dial up to the Internet--by itself. Unfortunately for the characters in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's PULSE, inquisitive PCs are the least of their problems. What begins as the seemingly isolated suicide of a computer hacker in Tokyo leads to a series of mysterious disappearances and deaths in this bone-chilling thriller. As Michi (Kumiko Aso), a young woman working on a rooftop plant nursery, attempts to find out what happened to her deceased friend, a slacker named Kawashima (Haruhiko Katô) reports his computer's unusual behavior to Harue (Koyuki), an attractive tech specialist. Separately, they witness an unraveling horror which manifests itself in haunting digital images, coal-black stains, doors sealed with red tape, and lingering apparitions--all leading to a steady decrease in Tokyo's population.
Like RING, another prime example of Japanese horror, Kurosawa's PULSE manages to take a B-movie plot and elevate to a level of both terror and artistry that's rarely, if ever, seen in the West. Rather than relying on gore and special effects, the film uses expert cinematography (courtesy of Junichirô Hayashi, also the cameraman on RING and Kurosawa's CHARISMA), bleak backdrops, creepy music, and the good ol' power of suggestion to create what eventually becomes an existential nightmare. To call PULSE "scary" would be a grave understatement; most viewers will never look at a roll of red tape the same way again.
