MAN-MADE MONSTERS #27: Pulse (2001) & One Missed Call (2003)

The Evolution of Horror

Feb 27, 2026•1 hr 50 min•Season 11Ep. 27

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Summary

Mike and Stacy Ponder dissect Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse and Takashi Miike's One Missed Call, two seminal J-horror films from the early 2000s that explore the terrifying implications of the internet and mobile phones. They discuss Pulse's profound depiction of loneliness and societal collapse through digital ghosts, contrasting its quiet dread with One Missed Call's more bombastic yet equally unsettling take on technology-foreseen deaths and dark backstories. The conversation highlights the unique atmospheric horror and prescient themes of isolation in the J-horror wave, contrasting it with Western horror and reflecting on our changing relationship with technology.

Episode description

There's a ghost in the machine! Stacie Ponder joins Mike as we enter the noughties to discuss two techy J-horrors that tackle the internet and mobile phones: Pulse and One Missed Call.

Hosted, Produced and Edited by Mike Muncer

Music by Jack Whitney

Artwork by Mike Lee-Graham

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