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Pulse

EMAILPRINTMagnolia Pictures

Pulse reviews
70
5.9 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 21 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 21 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Foreign  |  Horror

Written by: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Directed by: Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Release Date:
Theatrical: August 12, 2005
DVD: February 21, 2006

Running Time: 119 minutes, Color

Origin: Japan

Language(s): Japanese (with English subtitles)

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Haruhiko Katô, Kumiko Aso, Koyuki, Kurume Arisaka, Masatoshi Matsuo, Shinji Takeda, Jun Fubuki, and Shun Sugata

A psychological thriller set in Tokyo.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

TV Guide Ken Fox

If one masterpiece were to emerge from the recent glut of generally good quality Japanese horror movie, this chilling apocalyptic ghost story from Kyroshi Kurosawa is it.

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100

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Kurosawa leaves much of the explanation enigmatic but he fills the film with an eerie emptiness, where suicides erupt out of nowhere and mankind dissolves in an oily smudge of hopelessness, adrift between life and death.

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90

The New York Times Anita Gates

The most horrifying thing in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's fiercely original, thrillingly creepy Pulse (released as "Kairo," or "Circuit," in Japan) is the way the ghosts move.

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88

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

It's a horror movie for aficionados. But it's also for people who don't usually like horror movies at all, who regard them as cheap, crude and over-obvious.There's nothing cheap or crude in Pulse," a fine, shivery movie about the terror of solitude and emptiness.

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80

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Storytelling clarity has never been a Kurosawa strong suit, yet Pulse baffles even under those standards, so it's best to just get on his abstract wavelength and ride the thing out.

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80

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Like the best horror movies, it doesn't beat you over the head, splatter you, or fold, spindle and mutilate you. Rather, slowly and subtly, it creeps you out. You may go home and throw out your computer and lock the doors.

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80

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

Whether you take it as horror show or social commentary (or both), this is sublimely terrifying stuff.

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75

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Just know that Pulse possesses the dark art to make your pulse pound and your hair stand on end -- with no cheating.

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75

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Pleasantly free of blood and guts, with Kurosawa using instead the mighty power of suggestion to give Pulse an invigorating aura of menace.

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75

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Where the average Japanese horror flick is petulant and nasty, Pulse is dolorous, shivery, and surreal.

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70

Variety Derek Elley

Result is always watchable, occasionally creepy and teasingly pitched halfway between a genre riff and a genuine scarefest.

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70

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

Neither linear nor overly explained, Pulse completely dispenses with smash cuts, cymbal crashes and other editing tricks of the horror trade.

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67

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

The film's ideas are provocative, yet vague and unfully formed. It's much like Pulse itself, which is a bit too long, despite several great sequences.

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60

Empire Kim Newman

While not exactly reaching Ring-levels of terror, it's certainly one for connoisseurs of the weird.

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60

Film Threat Stina Chyn

A horror film that scares you to insomnia is good in the sense that it succeeds in what it sets out to do.

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60

Village Voice J. Hoberman

With very few strong characters and a great many middle shots, Pulse sometimes plods--it's the price of Kurosawa's restraint and his indifference to structure.

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58

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Nothing in the two snail-paced hours of Pulse makes close to a shred of sense?

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50

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

It's arguably more "artful" to move at a snail's pace, but at the risk of tedium?

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50

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Pulse works as a hypnotic meditation on contemporary alienation. Traditional horror fans, however, will search in vain for signs of life.

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50

San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego

It's an apocalyptic ghost story with some eerie images and a surprising turn toward the end, but it bogs down considerably between the good scenes.

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30

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

But the big scare scenes seem particularly isolated here, supported by neither the flat characters nor the vague plot.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 5.9 (out of 10) based on 21 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Bob N gave it a9:
Kiyoshi Kurosawa's films appeal to me. I am a thinker (I am not saying I am smarter than everyone.) I have thought a lot about the dangerous era we have entered in the past 20 years or so with technology. As Postman and McLuhan pointed out, the recent generations of folks born in advanced countries are the first in history to suffer from information glut. We are boldly going...finish the sentence. There has to be a cost to this technology. This film plays on that realistic fear, the fear of the unkown, the fear of alienation, the fear of technology. This is not a 2001 the computers will kill you fear, this is a deep-seated psychological/spiritual dillema. The film does drag at times, and the characters act annoyingly odd at times as well. The ever present atmoshpere, the ever present ideas, create one of the creepiest and best "horror" films I have seen. Note: I usually hate horror films. They tend to be "shock" films with no dread or horror. Pulse (the Japanese version, not the horrid American version) is a true horror film. There is no comparison with the original and the remake. The remake is horrible and empty of the spirit of the original. Great stuff.

Arsal gave it a9:
Kairo is an utter masterpiece. Nothing less, nothing more. It's not so much as the usual 'jump-because-we-said-so' horror movies being churned out as of late. It's atmospheric, dark, surreal, almost dream-like in some scenes. Recommended to everyone who's sick of blood and guts being spurted at the screen for no reason, and to fans of art-house cinema.

Chad S. gave it a6:
[***SPOILERS***] "Kairo" isn't entirely successful but it's still vastly superior to the remake I saw yesterday. Thankfully, there's nothing pale and naked coming out of a coin-operated laundry machine. In "Pulse", you see the influence of the "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", but in the Japanese original, the source of inspiration is more explicit. It's the 1978 version with Donald Sutherland. What's also interesting is how the ghosts are presented. They're reminiscent of the monoliths from "2001: A Space Odyessy". What ultimately prevents "Kairo", however, from joining the ranks of first-rate J-horror flicks, is a short supply of interesting characters saying interesting things. The two girls who traveled across the Pacific and morphed into Kristin Bell and Kristina Milian are equally wretched, but at least with two storylines, they're not constantly on screen.

Kurt C. gave it a7:
It wasn't so much scary as it was chilling. It brings a fresh viewpoint to the thriller genre that certainly makes you rethink just how dependent we are getting on instant communication. The cinematography is more mood-setting than eerie. Kristin Bell did an excellent job in her first movie roll. I'm looking for to more from her.

Pete H. gave it a1:
Look this film was not made in 2005--it was made in 2001. Because of the errors in this listing, I went to see the horrible american/romanian remake.

Kel R. gave it a9:
This movie seemed like it was made in the 80's or something because of poor clarity. Besides that, and the fact you have to read subtitles, it's astoundingly great. The story of this movie is top notch, and ths special effects will blow you away. Simply put if you LOVE asian horror than you MUST see this movie!

Jonny V. gave it a2:
giving it a 2 is a very generous rating, as it make no sence, and lacked being even remotely scary, a waste of my precious, precious time.

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