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Pulse

Pulse

2001
Horror
1h 59m
Japanese teens investigate a series of suicides linked to an internet webcam that promises visitors the chance to interact with the dead. (imdb)
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Pulse

2001
Horror
1h 59m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 53.98% from 871 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(871)
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Rated 28 Apr 2008
90
92nd
Maybe the scariest movie I've ever seen. Very unique and creepy-looking ghosts. Also, I felt it had the kind of depth that the original Godzilla did, considering the social changes Japan has undergone in the last several decades; it seemed like a big allegory for hikikomori, the declining birth rates, etc., and, of course, with this WWII shadow hanging over it.
Rated 03 Nov 2014
88
87th
A vision of the apocalypse where civilization ends not by atomic destruction but atomism: people retreating into themselves. To Donnie Darko's "Everybody dies alone," Pulse counters that, hey, everybody lives alone, too, & insofar that loneliness is an invariable aspect of human experience, dead or alive, what's the difference between the two? "Do you want to meet a ghost?" Turns out we're all ghosts; the Internet, promising connection & belonging, only clarifies our essential loneliness.
Rated 24 Jan 2007
82
73rd
I thought this was quite a bit better than the typical J-horror flick. The incomprehensibilty associated with the genre was not as bad as it usually is, I feel like I've got a pretty good grasp on what happened. I liked the end-of-the-world business too, that was a fresh twist on the standard fare. I also appreciated the themes of isolation and loneliness. It was a little on the slow side, and there weren't as many as jumpy-scary parts as, say, Ju-On, but otherwise I approve.
Rated 11 Sep 2008
82
77th
Took years to grow on me, but where I once felt it was flawed, I now see this is a deeply profound statement on the very unique apocalypse of the suicidal mind.
Rated 11 Dec 2018
75
79th
Recommended for two amazing drawn out takes involving ladies, one on her way out and one on her way back in. A jump from a ledge that never looks away for the former, I don't know how they filmed it. The latter's shot is patient enough to let itself become terrifying the longer it goes on, sort of like my dietary history.
Rated 11 Oct 2019
75
72nd
Interesting. Quite an enigmatic, eerie number with a variety of themes and no firm explanation for what is going on (confession - I quite like things being left ambiguous) . There was some solid camerawork, doing a good job of capturing the increasingly decayed locations in washed-out colour. I found it creepy and unsettling, like something was always going to emerge from the shadows, and it occupied my head for some time after it had finished. Fans of the better-known J-horrors might like this.
Rated 26 Oct 2012
3
18th
Vague plot, slow pacing, strange musings on the concepts of loneliness and isolation in the digital age; it's all rather boring. But I'll admit, the idea of the apocalypse coming about through ghosts simply making everyone slowly vanish is a very interesting concept that could have been milked for many more scares and an eerier atmosphere than this film does it.
Rated 01 Jan 2013
40
28th
It's messy and awkward and refuses to remain frightening after the first 30 minutes or so.
Rated 20 Sep 2017
60
62nd
Concerns the relationship between the feeling of being alone in the world and the feeling of not existing, seeing these as originating from our mortal condition, but where this mortality is always already a technical condition, and, today, consists in a process of disappearance into networks of spectral images, networks operating via electronic circuits that short-circuit psychosocial circuits, inducing suicidal behaviour not just individually but collectively, that is, apocalyptically.
Rated 08 Apr 2019
6
86th
this prescient dive into the ontology of the internet age remains the most hauntingly, oppressively shot 21st century film this side of lynch, drawing a line between hiroshima and facebook in mapping the relationship between our new digital structures and those huge, dehumanising totems of industrialisation looming abandoned in the backdrop (hitch and antonioni abound). that THIS ending is seemingly a happy one says a lot about the horror with which kurosawa regards the collective modern psyche.
Rated 09 Dec 2020
5
93rd
It might be easy to dismiss this film over platitudes about how the internet has turned us into the walking dead, but it does altogether feel more significant than that. On loneliness and suicide, and how interiorized existential threats turn into social malady in a connected world. The imagery here just absolutely fucks me up. This is one of the most terrifying films I've ever seen.
Rated 22 Jan 2010
81
75th
This one's strengths are definitely clustered into its first act, while the second and third are a lot messier. But that first act is some of the most nightmare-inducing (or nightmare-recalling, rather) stuff I've seen in a film. The shadow people... and I'm a sucker for themes of isolation and loneliness (and here it resonates with particularly Japanese subtext like post-WWII anxieties and hikkikomorism in the age of the internet). The way apocalypse was brought about was bizarre and unique.
Rated 21 Dec 2010
90
88th
A pretty ambitious use of the traditional J-horror toolbox, spinning itself out into a disaster film by way of extended metaphysical monologues. And as unlikely as that sounds, it certainly gives it more weight than your average horror film, and it's shot quite well in places. Bonus points for mind-numbingly accurate depictions of Windows 95 usage (a never-ending dial-up service installer? count me in!), and the most unsubtle atomic bombing reference in Japanese film I've seen yet.
Rated 07 Mar 2011
50
18th
The dark atmosphere isn't enough to carry the rest of this movie. Also this movie goes apeshit in the end.
Rated 16 Jun 2012
88
52nd
Agree with most viewers that opening 1/2 hour is quite good. Also has a bit of 2001 premonition right at the end, so maybe Kurosawa was communicating with the dead while making the film, and that lets me give the film an 88 for visual design. Pretty hard to see what's going on when watching on Netflix.
Rated 08 Nov 2012
75
65th
if I understood this movie, this movie would think I am a ghost if it ever met me
Rated 13 Jun 2014
80
81st
http://i64.servimg.com/u/f64/13/74/78/96/laptop10.jpg
Rated 30 Jul 2014
6
54th
Pulse gets better as it goes along, slowly expanding its premise until presumably all of Tokyo is afflicted with, umm, uh, whatever it is that's actually happening. I'm still not sure. I feel like this is a movie that's terrifying only to those who know nothing about the internet. But even if you're not sold on the story, and even if the characterization is subpar, its survival horror feel and apocalyptic gloom gives it a lot of flavor.
Rated 30 Jul 2014
76
57th
Bizarre enough that it's visually worth it, even if the story isn't seamless.
Rated 25 Oct 2016
84
77th
Uses a creepy enigmatic ghost story as a framing device for an exploration the isolating effect of the modern world, and it's effective in creating a disconcerting mood. The characterizations are really good and the air of mystery meshes very well with the film's themes as the characters alternately come together and distance themselves. Eventually, though, the film is more interested in furthering the ghost story than developing its themes, which is fine, but not what I would have preferred.
Rated 21 Nov 2016
64
80th
Not sure why I waited so long to watch this. Basically two films in one: a horror story which evolves into apocalyptic sci-fi. It shares imagery and themes with J-Horror films, but it's more ambitious and requires your attention. It's also not as clearly crafted as e.g. Nakata's films, and characters mainly seem to serve the concept. Some scenes feel amateurish while others ooze with atmosphere. Technology already looks outdated, but the themes of loneliness and detachment are still valid.
Rated 27 Jul 2017
73
78th
Kurosawa manipulates J-horror cliches to serve his own unique vision of a technologically induced apocalypse. The visuals have a thick hazy sheen that's borderline impenetrable, as if the film was shot through a foggy glass pane. K.K creates an unsettling atmosphere in dark murky environments by obscuring objects in the frame to heighten the tension and mystery. The pace is a tad leisurely, but K.K's depiction of future alienation is unusually low key and spare with tense abstract moments.
Rated 24 Feb 2018
40
2nd
Top badass moment? The sound of a modem. In the future, it'll be people like me who can answer that question in the "what sound is it?" round in pub quizzes. The young from their 'always on' world won't know it; and all old people despise technology because it reminds them of trying to programme video recorders, so they won't know it either. So this film, well it wasn't that great; some black smudges and trousers that look like baggy long johns. No cats, chainsaws or decapitations.
Rated 03 May 2022
35
22nd
All points mostly going to the first half of this movie which had a lot of atmosphere and was building up to something bigger which turned out to be a massive let down. I wasn't into the second half of this movie at all, it felt super directionless and dragged on and on. Beats you over the head with it's message to the point where it's no longer effective.
Rated 27 Sep 2022
95
98th
So much melancholy, so much dread towards certain loneliness -- which means death -- that we the only thing characters can do is just sit and silently scream or cry, waiting to become a blur on the wall or a ghost lingering in haunted computers. Tokyo as a wasteland of souls with nowhere to go but our realm, because the dead land is just packed. And then the final characters get on a ship to Latin America -- oh, boy, here is hell too! Just neat, precise, absorbing existential horror.
Rated 12 Dec 2006
90
87th
Much much much better than the crap American iteration.
Rated 07 Aug 2007
45
16th
Almost a good idea, watchable only because i'm in fucking love with Kristin Bell.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
81
97th
terribly effective...watch it alone, in middle of the night, and you will not look at your computer in the same way any more ...
Rated 14 Aug 2007
60
0th
Neat idea, some truly creepy moments, a bit slow though, it could have used a little more action.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
38
23rd
Eh... you've seen one of these modern Japanese horror movies, you've seen em all. If you really have to see one, better Ringu than Kairo.
Rated 09 Mar 2008
2
33rd
In spite of its silly premise (ghosts on the internet lol), it manages to sustain a creepy vibe through about the first 45 minutes. But after a while, it runs out of steam and becomes a very by-the-numbers muddled J-horror film. Not recommended.
Rated 10 Jan 2009
85
94th
slow and creepy
Rated 02 Sep 2009
79
87th
Holy crap this movie scared the pants off of me, and it is even worse because it *refuses* to use jump scares and violin stings, just good old-fashioned "you can't look away" horror.
Rated 02 Mar 2010
83
94th
Ghosts, I realized, are scary not because they remind us of death, but because they tell us that death isn't an existence of happiness and reuniting with other passed away relatives and friends. Death is an extension of the loneliness we already feel. Pulse taps into the dread of eternal isolation.
Rated 15 Mar 2010
61
71st
this one didn't quite work for me, but it did keep me tense and curious for the duration thanks to very good use of darkness and good sound design. everything else was a little weak. the male lead was irritating, character motivation was fuzzy, editing was confusing, dialogue was pretty awful, and the concept didn't really make sense either, the relationship between the internet ghosts and the real ones was never clearly established, it just seemed to be commentary on internet socialization.
Rated 01 Jan 2011
30
19th
Memorable mainly for the haunting scenes of driving through a completely deserted downtown Tokyo. A creepy ghost scene or two, too. The story's dumb as hell.
Rated 14 Jan 2011
68
35th
An interesting Japaneses Ghost Story,The acting was good and the music really added to the creepy atmosphere of this movie
Rated 17 Jan 2011
5
69th
Needs a rewatch
Rated 22 Jan 2011
30
3rd
SO SCARY BECAUSE OF HOW BORING IT IS!!!!!
Rated 21 Jun 2011
70
76th
Good Movie
Rated 21 Oct 2011
93
79th
Technology being the downfall of mankind sounds about right.
Rated 13 Nov 2011
58
33rd
Some wonderfully creepy atmosphere, but the allegory (the alienating effects of technology and the internet, blah blah blah) is a bit heavy handed, and the story doesn't quite hold together. Not in the same ballpark as Kurosawa's masterpiece Cure which, unlike this film, has a psychological center.
Rated 17 Jan 2012
15
5th
Overall Enjoyment: 0/40, Plot/Themes: 5/20, Cinematography/Direction: 5/20, Acting/Writing: 5/20 A Japanese "horror" move with a strange plot that ends up not being scary at all. Unfortunately it's also extremely slow paced, and a strange plot doesn't mean an interesting one.
Rated 06 Aug 2012
55
30th
Sure, the premise is silly and so is a lot of the dialogue. But nevertheless, the first half of Pulse works very well on a atmospheric level. The way colors and shadow are used are genuinely scary. But then the script just keeps piling on pseudo-philosophical BS and unclear character motivations until the movie collapses in on itself.
Rated 15 Jan 2013
65
53rd
The protagonists start seeing ghosts in computers and people killing themselves. As the ghost sightings increase, people begin to succumb to the despair or...disintegrate into ash. This film is slllooooowwww. With that being said, you do get a great sense of dread and hopelessness that never lets up. The CGI doesn't hold up at all, but a few scenes do work pretty well. I'd have liked it much more if they cut 30 minutes.
Rated 11 Feb 2013
76
38th
A little messy and disjointed. Perhaps it warrants a re-watch. The ashes left behind by the disappearing bodies are iconic to Japanese viewers due to the effects of the Atomic Bomb and this little fact may be lost in foreign viewers.
Rated 12 Feb 2013
57
36th
Another hyped up disappointment. And my quest to find a genuinely "scary" film continues.
Rated 22 Mar 2013
80
68th
The cinematography is absolutely gorgeous - this is a scary horror film where nine tenths of what happens happens in broad daylight giving the film a slightly spiritual edge. And the scares really do deliver with the film teasing you and being tense and captivating throughout. The film does proceed to lose its way more and more as it goes on but the ambition is very satisfying. Pulse is frightening, beautiful and a bit shoddy all at the same time.
Rated 14 Jul 2013
60
8th
An incoherent torrent of postmodern masturbation that presents us with an important question: "Do you want to meet a ghost?" The answer of course involves pulling the rug from under your own feet and exclaiming "YOU ALREADY HAVE!" while staring at a mirror. It's also possible that you're the ghost--a good way to check is to see if, on occasion, you transform into a black stain on a wall and shatter into a million ghost particles.
Rated 28 Oct 2013
50
47th
Kiyoshi Kurosawa is a good director, however after having first seen a few of his non-genre films, the added horror elements here can't help but seem rather superfluous and heavy-handed when he's essentially tackling the exact same themes of technological and urban alienation as he always does. Like always, he's not much for plotting, so it's basically just a philosophical meditation on loneliness and the internet with some clumsy supernatural stuff thrown in.
Rated 31 Oct 2013
70
57th
The ghosts are veeeery scary, but overall the film is rather unmemorable, failing in sustaining a really constant tension or a mood of the uncanny. The teen detectives are a bit annoying.
Rated 17 Jan 2014
60
55th
Construction materials - red tape. And something about the nuclear bomb.
Rated 03 Jan 2015
35
0th
Terrible.
Rated 21 Apr 2015
73
80th
More than the scares, I liked the ideas relating to social issues relating to the internet. ps73
Rated 17 Nov 2015
5
91st
What starts as an utterly nerve-wracking horror film gives way to a grim meditation on death, loneliness and the impossibility of meaningful personal connection in the Internet age.
Rated 21 Feb 2016
13
69th
Star Rating: ★★★1/2
Rated 09 Oct 2016
73
31st
I really liked the visuals and atmosphere of this movie, but sadly it just wasn't that great. The plot is good, but the pacing is honestly terrible and I actually had to skip past the last third of the movie. There are some genuinely creepy scenes in here, but it just doesn't hold up.
Rated 27 Feb 2017
60
26th
Interesting themes of loneliness and isolation, and some creepy scenes, but most of the plot mechanics felt really random and inconsistent. It was stupid characters that really got to me, though. No, actually, literally stupid. The main guy processes thought at the speed of chilled butter, if at all, usually only uttering, "what? ... huh? ... duh ..." or the japanese equivalents. His mouth never closes, rather is in a perpetual vacant, half-opened state. The girls were only a bit better.
Rated 30 Mar 2018
90
87th
Um dos mais abrangentes filmes sobre o mundo virtual e seu isolamento, com as características existenciais que lhe são inerentes. DVD Versátil Obras primas do Terror Volume 7
Rated 08 Oct 2018
35
6th
As M_A said, it's not frightening after the first 30 minutes, which is a shame because there is some genuinely creepy imagery on display and it feels like it's building at that point. It only leads into a drama, perhaps horror-tinged but that's only because there are ghosts (ghosts don't automatically mean scary). But even the reflective nature of the drama isn't compelling, and by the time the (spoilers) apocalypse starts it's too late, and then it ends. Cool ending but a slog to get there.
Rated 23 Nov 2019
75
64th
Beautiful sound and image. The world it creates is as strange and specific as anything you would find in sci-fi or fantasy. Full of the kind of deathly silences that Japanese horror does best. Seems impossibly ahead of its time; we have only very recently begun to grapple with what the internet's promise of connection has actually connected us to.
Rated 12 Apr 2020
50
20th
Some great sequences but really inconsistent. Some thematic connections to Cure and Bright Future but a much weaker film.
Rated 19 Oct 2020
90
80th
Viewed October 18, 2020. Frankly, one of the most terrifying films I've ever seen. What it lacks in narrative cohesion it makes up for with such brilliant, disturbing atmospherics.
Rated 27 Oct 2020
81
43rd
Ryosuke is the original himbo and I wont be taking any other questions at this time. Pulse has expertly crafted horror scenes with existential dread about the loneliness of technology and death. So perfect to watch alone, at 2am, during a pandemic. Sadly Pulse's plot takes an interesting risk, by splitting up into 2 stories, it underdevlops its great ideas and has a cast of characters that are basically cut with the same cookie cutter, and who I confused with each other multiple times.
Rated 14 Dec 2020
65
45th
The cinematography was probably the biggest highlight for me, with haunting visuals aplenty & a lot of really cool shots that convey the dull, dreary vibe of the overall story quite well. The gradual loss of bright colors was neat, too. But the story is...well, it's really incoherent & it borders on pretentious & I just didn't care for it. The characters had nothing to them, & the pacing dragged horribly. So many threads just got dropped randomly. This will work for many, but not so much for me.
Rated 03 Feb 2021
81
81st
Theres at least a couple scenes (but mainly just That One) that are pure hair raising horror goodness, but eventually this is less of a scary movie and more musings on isolation in life and death and stuff. Serial Experiments Lain with a bit of The Ring maybe? I have mixed feelings but the atmosphere ties everything together enough.
Rated 13 Mar 2021
80
63rd
convoluted and dream-like.
Rated 08 Apr 2021
63
67th
Fantastic atmosphere of dread sustained throughout (is this the closest we're going to get to a live action Japanese Silent Hill movie?), but the plot is all over the place and the characters aren't distinguishable in any real way. Exposition guy was really bad, but on the other hand there's a scene in here (everyone who's watched this knows what I'm talking about) that is one of the creepiest I've seen outside a Lynch film.
Rated 01 Nov 2021
74
64th
The late 90s-early 2000s "cyber horror" subgenre was mostly embarrassing, but Pulse is a notable exception. It's super atmospheric and creepy for much of the runtime, but the third act goes off the rails in a really unsatisfying way.
Rated 08 Nov 2021
59
75th
this was actually quite scary
Rated 11 May 2022
97
91st
Postmodern horror that links independence to emotional isolation and consequently, a state of living death symbolized by a viral ghost that travels through the internet, seizing the living. Gripping, compelling, and atmospheric but about a half hour too long.
Rated 12 Jun 2022
30
3rd
I guess this is trying to say something about the Internet and loneliness and... (sigh) "existentialism", but... is it really? It has a neat, gritty, low budget, minimalistic feel to it that feels intentional. It's technically competent and manages to steward a couple of genuinely creepy moments. The problem is weakly developed characters and a narrative that doesn't unfold in a way that's remotely compelling. And that ending. Oh my goodness. THAT ENDING. Tonally jarring to the point of mirth.
Rated 25 Oct 2022
73
29th
This would probably have been better than the apocalypse the actual internet brought about
Rated 15 Feb 2023
63
58th
The movie feels like missed opportunities to me, as the start and the ghosts were the good kind of creepy, and an interesting take on the lore. The slow creeping worked very well. The visuals seem really creepy too. But then it turns into a story about loneliness and existential dread, and it is slow and not horror anymore to me. It is just philosophy while running around town, and it ends without explanations but one sort of cares less about this world anyway
Rated 26 Mar 2023
41
21st
It held my attention, as I attempted to find something to latch on to, some sort of coherence. I never found it.
Rated 27 Apr 2023
55
19th
While it does accurately examine our social condition, I still felt like this thing was a mess. Extremely hard to follow the plot and very little sensible dialogue. The transition from horror to full blown apocalypse was especially janky.
Rated 01 May 2023
65
23rd
I'm a fan of anything that drags out the darker side of internet's loneliness. Certainly haunting and periods of uncertainty that reflect the ghostly concept, but unfortunately gets inconsistent with its effects towards the end.
Rated 20 Oct 2023
90
64th
Pretty effect stuff! For a film that’s deliberately paced, I was very entertained. There’s something really unsettling and fascinating about Kurosawa’s atmosphere and use of liminal spaces. I was surprised the movie was as layer/deep as it is, and the concept was executed way better than any ‘internet horror’ movie should be. It thankfully has some fairly memorable characters and performances as well. A creepy film that perfectly showcases the depression and loneliness that was/is the internet.
Rated 09 Feb 2024
70
30th
A great example of Japanese horror. However, to a western viewer, the fear doesn't translate well.

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