The Plot Podcast - Episode 19 - Pulse/Kairo (2001)

Dust in the Wind. What happened to Michi’s (Kumiko Aso) friend? From Pulse (2001).

It’s spooky season, so let’s have a review of famous 2001 J-horror film Pulse aka Kairo [Circuit], written and directed by Kiyoshi Kurasawa.

It’s literally a “ghost in the machine” plot, as it appears a group of Japanese students have found out the dead are trying to come back to our world through … the internet? Luckily, it’s 2001, so it takes a while thanks to dial-up.

While some of the deaths are horrific, none are anything I’d call gory by 2023 standards. And not as many jump scares as you’d expect from a J-horror picture.

And if sounds familiar, it’s because there was a 2006 American remake starring Kristen Bell and one of the guys from Lost who never seemed to become a breakout star. But dont make the mistake of watching the wrong one. The Japanese version is a somber reflection about loneliness and solitude, which certainly hits harder now in a post-COVID world. The other is a horrible remake that took the plot but not the soul of its predecessor. I mean, it’s so bad, that there’s a joke about it in another Kristen Bell movie (Finding Sarah Marshall).