Kairo / Pulse (Japanese film): this movie will give me nightmares
I took a break from Korean cinema because i was concerned that i would run out of material if I carried on at the pace that I watching them and the Japanese did not disappoint.
![480w_s.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmNob3DpjRRF5JUcEBrLdujKnN2GqRtiZVo9nkrGM2EKNp/480w_s.jpg)
I can't really say for certain what it is that engages them, I would have to watch the movie several more times in order to figure that out, but this film in centered around the afterlife and how people become ghosts trapped in our world. The initial sequence happens due to some kind of AOL disk that installs an internet browsing platform that asks you "would you like to see a ghost?" while you are installing it. This seems silly and it is. However you have to put yourself in the seat of the people at the time when dealing with dial-up internet (which many of you may have never experienced and trust me when i say you are better of for it) but it was pretty amazing at that particular point in time.
![Pulse (2001).jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmW6yxfsKCKsGVmEnnkTS8kNwQ1pP4aDAZUhCmdjTbu1if/Pulse%20(2001).jpg)
I can't say exactly how the ghosts travel through the interwebs but it is not an important part of the story. The story itself seems to be kind of up to the person viewing it as the characters in the film start to find themselves with fewer and fewer people around them as the days go on. This takes place in Tokyo, and if you have ever been there or any other major city you likely know that the opportunity for you to have a street all to yourself is not great. I mean seriously. I have been to Toyko once and I don't recall a point outside of my hotel room where there wasn't hundreds of people around me.
This seems (to me) to be the message of the movie about people moving from this world to the next because the people who have already passed seem to reach out to those that (maybe) haven't passed yet, but perhaps they have and the ones who are already gone are trying to help them transition to the new afterlife.
I don't know! It was really confusing and that is why i have to watch it again. However, here is the trailer and then i will talk some more.
What made this film so incredible (again, to me) is the fact that there were no scenes where whatever was meant to scare you JUMPED at you suddenly. There was no shock fright in the film at all. What did happen was creepy sequences where something was coming for you (the viewer) and you didn't know what it was but it was coming for sure.
This particular scene was the one that i am sure I am going to have nightmares about. Again, there was nothing that jumped out, you were made aware of the phantom's presence long before it was upon us, yet the imagery and the slow progress of said phantom is (in my mind) so much more terrifying than if the thing jumping around a corner.
This movie is so complex that I can't really tell you for sure what it is about. It has a lot to do with ghosts and attempting to explain the realm that said ghosts live in - and it appears to be quite tragic. The story, in my mind is not nearly as important as how well they did with portraying a genuinely scary ghost story without any shock tactics. This is art folks.... and i rarely get excited about art.
7 / 10
the only reason it is getting just below "stellar" review from me is that the movie is left up to the viewer to interpret a bit too much in my opinion. Even after thinking about if for many hours I have no clear idea about what i just watched but do know it scared the hell outta me. However this may have a lot to do with the fact that I don't speak Japanese and was reading the subtitles. Watch this movie if you are a fan of horror.
Off to my nightmares.
The creepiest horror movie ever made
Sorry for the hyperbole topic but I mean it. I am a horror movie fanatic and I have become desensitized to cheap scares with loud noises and murderers running around with axes. I am very picky and only like one out of every few dozen horror movies I watch. I also don't like nonsensical supernatural horror that uses creepy images as a gimmick without actually bothering to make any sense. So when I say that this is the creepiest horror movie ever made, it is not hyperbole. That said, this movie will bore or confound the average horror movie watcher. It is not linear or logical and it doesn't explain everything that is going on, but it doesn't have to. This is an apocalyptic horror movie about loneliness and how people may become distant islands and ghosts even through connecting technology like cellphones and the internet. I don't know how anyone can make a horror movie about loneliness and make it creepy as hell but Kiyoshi Kurosawa pulled it off. That's all you need to know. Experience it with the lights off, no breaks, noise or distractions, or I will lock you in a room with a depressed ghost and tape the door shut with red tape until you become so lonely you will evaporate into nothing.
excellent post buddy. You have outdone yourself again :)
Creepy, the idea of knowing something is coming for you yet you don't know what to do scares the hell out of me, today your review wasn't really coherent and guessing is dur to the fact that you yourself havnt really grasped the intricacies of the movie, hvnt watched lots of koream dramas but those i have watched always seems to be enigmatic and most often i need spoilers before comprehending, i wonder why they do that though, so am gonna look for more spoilers before i touch this one else i may end up confused just like you did😬
yeah, i wanted to write about it because I thoroughly enjoyed the movie despite not really understanding what was going on. What really did it for me was that the film was truly scary without the usual jump-scares (such as the methods that SCREAM used, for example.) I feel as though this sort of horror can be considered more of "dread" than "shock."
I didn't really know how to explain it. My apologies, but i still wanted to recommend it despite not fully understanding it myself.
It is almost 2 am here. I am alone at home and reading this article. It is pitch dark everywhere except a dim light in this room. I am not sure whatsoever can happen here - Someone may start knocking at the door slowly, Someone might be standing just behind me, A rocking chair can be set in motion with creaking sound, a tumbler can fall in my kitchen.... oh wait..!! I just saw a shadow moving across the door to another room.
It has become a lot more scarier than I thought............ i hope you can feel it. :O
you are really awesome. before years at that time, I have only access to Hollywood, Chinese, Hindi and regional movies. I preferred Hollywood, Chinese, regional, Hindi is the order. I dropped watching Hindi movies. Regional movies according to the review from audience. but i will go to any movies of Hollywood/ English and Chinese. Where eagles dare is the movie hit my mind first. A nightmare on elm street is the first horror movie which made me think horror in the different angle. I am going through all your posts. You are really great. Keep sharing my friend.![fd463438d5861a9970468a3bb23c4504.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmQB9V4P6MTR9gyTB1eRBiXBwqhm3bVaUPaiPWpLjUdqWs/fd463438d5861a9970468a3bb23c4504.jpg)
Hi gooddream. Doesn't it lose the effect with a horror movie in subtitles?
since most of the horror is visual, i would say no
Lol. Ok I will find it to watch then. I am going to blame you if it is bad lol. The last film I watched with subtitles was netflix The Outsider. About the Yakuza. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thanks for the tip on The Outsider. perhaps i will check that out next
I love horror and I will love to watch the movie especially cos it has to do with ghost. There are so many tales here in Nigeria about ghost.
truly Japanese can create a horrific yet very unique movie kudos for sharing!!
Very scary, I would not like to see it
I'm always traumatized with this, I know! I am too sencible haha
Oh hoo! I am really impressed. Really glad you mentioned a Japanese horror film. They are just mind blasters I would say. Second to none. And unparalleled. I have watched it. It's really frightening at certain sequences. It just shatters your soul through those acts. I really like the way that ghosts don't appear sudden at your screen to scare and shock you. Despite that it gives more horror than others, that's the quality of the film. I did however dislike the thought of installation of ghosts. Too childish but not nattering much.