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Pulse
Special Edition
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Product Description
Award-winning filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa delivered one of the finest entries in the "J-Horror" cycle of films with this moody and spiritually terrifying film that delivers existential dread along with its frights. Setting his story in the burgeoning internet and social media scene in Japan, Kurosawa's dark and apocalyptic film foretells how technology will only serve to isolate us as it grows more important to our lives.
A group of young people in Tokyo begin to experience strange phenomena involving missing co-workers and friends, technological breakdown, and a mysterious website which asks the compelling question, "Do you want to meet a ghost?" After the unexpected suicides of several friends, three strangers set out to explore a city which is growing more empty by the day, and to solve the mystery of what lies within a forbidden room in an abandoned construction site, mysteriously sealed shut with red packing tape.
Featuring haunting cinematography by Junichiro Hayashi (Ring, Dark Water), a dark and unsettling tone which lingers long after the movie is over, and an ahead-of-its-time story which anticipates 21st century disconnection and social media malaise, Pulse is one of the greatest and most terrifying achievements in modern Japanese horror, and a dark mirror for our contemporary digital world.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
- High Definition digital transfer
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
- Original 5.1 audio (DTS-HD on the Blu-ray)
- New optional English subtitle translation
- New interview with writer/director Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- New interview with cinematographer Junichiro Hayashi
- The Horror of Isolation: a new video appreciation featuring Adam Wingard & Simon Barrett (Blair Witch, You’re Next)
- Archive ‘Making of’ documentary, plus four archive behind-the-scenes featurettes
- Premiere footage from the Cannes Film Festival
- Cast and crew introductions from opening day screenings in Tokyo
- Trailers and TV Spots
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tommy Pocket
FIRST PRESSING ONLY:Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Chuck Stephens
Product details
- MPAA rating : R (Restricted)
- Product Dimensions : 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 8.32 ounces
- Item model number : mon0001826295_loc
- Director : Kiyoshi Kurosawa
- Media Format : NTSC, Anamorphic, Surround Sound, Blu-ray, Widescreen
- Run time : 1 hour and 59 minutes
- Release date : July 11, 2017
- Actors : Haruhiko Kato, Kunmiko Aso, Kuyuki
- Studio : Arrow Video
- ASIN : B01M03C9RT
- Number of discs : 2
- Best Sellers Rank: #78,015 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #2,943 in Horror (Movies & TV)
- Customer Reviews:
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Kiyoshi is a criminally unknown director who is undoubtedly the single best filmmaker in the history of horror cinema. Unfortunately, many people confuse greatness with influence. Hideo Nakata is not a great director, but he did influence the entire film-making industry with Ringu. Kiyoshi Kurosawa, on the other hand, just makes great films - Kairo, Cure, Charisma, Retribution, Séance, Loft, etc. That's the essential difference between excellence and mere market influence. Now, Kiyoshi does get some respect from both moviegoers and critics alike, but there are some common complaints that I would like to address in conjunction with this review of Kairo.
The most outrageous criticism of Kiyoshi is that his films lack content. This is a patently false (and downright ridiculous) claim that holds no weight whatsoever. Taking Kairo as an example, there are a number of subtle references to LONELINESS throughout the entirety of the film - the literal isolation of characters, the individual dots expressed within the computer program, the patterns of dissolved ash, the influence of communication and information through both ghostly apparitions as well as red tape, apocalyptic doom, suicide, character mannerisms and interrelationships, etc. In other words, there's a boatload of content in Kairo. Those who say otherwise have no idea what they're talking about.
This structure of film-making is one thing that makes Kiyoshi so amazing. He takes a simple concept like loneliness and creates a constellation of phenomena that reference back to the underlying theme of the film. The same is true with Cure (identity), Charisma (false dichotomies, relationship between the individual and society), Retribution (memory), Loft (memory), and others. It's a fascinating method of storytelling that's so much fun to watch despite the glacial pacing from which it's presented. Don't fool yourself: the entertainment value of Japanese horror is frequently about content, and Kairo is a perfect horror movie largely because of its philosophical elements. How many other films can make the same claim? What more do you people want?
How the massive quantity of content within Kiyoshi's cinematic portfolio goes unnoticed is beyond me. The only possible explanation is that his stunning talent for creating dense atmosphere leads some viewers to overlook his content. Still, there's no excuse for missing it, especially considering how badly made dramas get all sorts of credit where none is due. For example, there are tons of reviews for Tsai Ming-liang's dreadfully atrocious Viva L'Amour that gloat about that movie's depiction of solitude. I read these reviews with the knowledge that Kairo gets little to no credit for its truly amazing portrayal of loneliness. The whole scenario makes me want to puke.
Another criticism of Kiyoshi is that his films are "self-indulgent." What a load of twaddle coming from reviewers who consider Akira Kurosawa to be the best thing since sliced bread. Anyone dim-witted enough to claim that Akira Kurosawa's Dreams is less indulgent than Kairo should immediately check themselves into a mental institution. So Akira gets a free pass at self-masturbatory cinema because some Californian bloodsuckers propped him up on an undeserving pedestal? You people are a joke. From the standpoint of sheer directorial precision and scriptwriting, Akira doesn't even deserve to sniff Kiyoshi's jockstrap.
Then we have all sorts of assertions that say Kiyoshi's films are slow and boring, but most of these comments are made by Hollywood fanboys who drool over rat-infested garbage like Friday the 13th, Freddy vs. Jason, and Alien vs. Predator. I would expect this reaction from those with such narrow-minded "tastes" in film. Just leave the intelligent horror cinema to the big boys and go back to worshipping overrated hacks like Wes Craven.
But that's not all. We have even more ludicrous complaints coming from Westerners like, "The Japanese take their horror films too seriously." I laugh when hearing stuff like this. God forbid someone actually puts some effort into making a horror film. Has the Hollywood horror industry really crumbled to the point where even their most fervent followers don't expect anything remotely ambitious? That's a pretty pathetic state to be in.
The point of this review-turned-rant is to simply point out the obvious: Kiyoshi Kurosawa is the greatest horror filmmaker that ever lived. It might just be my opinion, but considering how any and all criticism seems to be based on illogic or narrow-mindedness, there's really no valid reason for believing otherwise.
Pulse is a perfect example of the necessary resourcefulness needed to create a semi-coherent but highly atmospheric film. What it lacks in budget (i.e, special effects, location scouting, a range in audio/visual effects, etc.) it more than makes up for in found ambience, the clever (if somewhat inexplicably random...) use of red duct tape and DIY special effects that mostly involve the strategic placement of stained/charred(?) bodily silhouettes to represent that a suicide has been committed. I am inclined to agree with the reviews that praise the compelling first half of the film while the second half feels a bit meandering. The closing scene involving the speedboat was obviously (and oddly!?!) influenced by Michael Mann's Miami Vice episodes. The sweet nostalgia conjured of the potent emptiness that encapsulated the 80's is worth the price of admission alone! While it's not overtly obvious I could definitely see the influence of the somber and sinister aesthetic of Silent Hill and Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing. A pleasant surprise was the eventual (and much anticipated!) disrobing and full frontal nudity of not one, not two but THREE of the female actresses! Pulse is a hidden treasure trove of sinister existentialism that artfully captures the inherent loneliness and despair we all feel more often than not--especially in regard to the soul-crushing pull of the darker regions of the Internet.
But be warned--Pulse packs a lasting punch that may or may not result in your inadvertently checking out and INTO the realm beyond. Or perhaps I should write, The Realm Beyond. View at your own pleasure and/or risk...
Weird for the sake of being weird does not a movie make. If I want to watch something inexplicably bleak, I'll watch something that at least has a plot!
Pardon me while I shake the dreary out of my head.
Not a keeper.
Top reviews from other countries
Reviewed in France on May 20, 2019
OK, langweilig für Leute, die Blut erwarten. Dies hier soll bewusst kein Action-Horrorstreifen sein.
Hier haben wir es mit einem sehr atmosphärischen und hintergründigen Film zu tun. Mich hat der Film fasziniert, weil er einen bleibenden Eindruck hinterlässt. Die Bilder wirken noch lange nach. Nach dem Genuss dieses Filmes habe ich mir auch das US-Remake besorgt - jenes ist auch OK, aber die Atmosphäre des Originals ist etwas verloren gegangen.
Der Film zielt mit seinem Inhalt vor allem auch als Vorwurf an das asiatische Heimpublikum ab, denn tatsächlich vereinsamen in Japan immer mehr Menschen.
Unbedingt anschauen; besonders empfehlenswert, wenn man abends alleine zu Hause ist. Das fördert doch enorm die beklemmende Stimmung.