'Pulse,' a sometimes chilling ghost story from Japanese director Kiyoshi Kurosawa, is based upon one simple question: What would it be like to meet a ghost? Through this overdone premise, Kurosawa takes the viewer on a confusing journey through a web of Tokyo suicides and specters.
The film begins with a girl going to the house of a friend no one has seen in weeks. He seems fine and well, until he hangs himself in a back room. This is the beginning of a long line of suicides that happen to characters after they visit 'forbidden rooms' where ghosts lurk. One of these suicides is brilliantly done, with a long shot of a girl falling off a building and crashing to the ground. The first half of the movie keeps viewers on their toes, and it looks as if this thriller will lead to a chilling conclusion.
These ghosts also appear in computer screens and have the ability to dial-up to the Internet by themselves. In many instances, the ghosts call for 'help,' but what they want help with is never clear and remains unanswered at the conclusion of the film. Do they want help contacting humans? Do they want help in a plan of destruction? Only they know, and the passive characters do not try to find out what they really want.
Whenever a character comes into contact with a ghost, they cower and never face them with confidence. The ghosts never physically harm anyone, and it is confusing as to why none of the characters try to stand up for themselves. Only one character embraces the ghost, but even she cannot cope with the aftermath of the meeting.
The turning point of the film is when it is suggested that the ghosts escape from these forbidden rooms and band together to wreak havoc on the town. Fires and car crashes run rampant, and it appears that the ghosts have taken over. Tokyo slowly becomes less populated and by the end, the surviving characters try to flee and escape the terror.
The second half of the film floats around like a ghost and leaves the viewer unsatisfied and wanting more. The waiting turns a fright-fest into a bore and will leave horror connoisseurs salivating for something juicy.
The lack of motivation and explanation of how the ghosts create mass destruction are the major flaws of 'Pulse.' There is no major protagonist and the narrative loses its pace the further it moves along. While the movie is chilling at certain points, its overall shock value is modest.
