PULSE...

...sucked. I absolutely adore Kristen Bell and, though she was good (considering the fucking terrible script and direction), the film was fucking torture. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend it to anyone -- even Kristen Bell fans. If you want to see her in something awesome, just watch VERONICA MARS. (Yes, it really IS a good show!)

As for how it compares to KAIRO, it fails to touch on any of the ideas that made that film interesting. As a metaphor for something, it misses the target in what is, at best, only a half-assed attempt at hitting on something in the first place. PULSE is devoid of all but the faintest traces of intellectual substance, and due to totally uninspired direction and a subpar script, becomes just another cliche ghost story in presentation.
 
S

smoke

Guest
This looked like shit from the moment I first saw the commercial. "There are people in my computer..." Yeah. I have a myspace too.

I can just picture the boardroom where this film was thrown together. Hey, kids like horror films...kids like computers...BOOM. I got it!
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
I laughed all the way through this trailer when I saw it in theatres. Hope no one in there was actually looking forward to it :troll:

It looks RIDICULOUS. Smoke hit the point I was going to say when I saw that someone brought it up here: HORROR + COMPUTERS = SUCKCESS!

"I WASN'T EVEN PLUGGED IN!" :isidro:

PS: Autumngism, why'd you even see this? Some chick?
 
Well, it's a remake of a Japanese horror movie, and the original actually has some intellectual substance. It's basically all about the isolation and inability of people to truly communicate, and how that's exacerbated by modern communications technologies (in the Japanese version, primarily the internet), which one would think would make communicating easier but in fact serve only to distance us further. The irony in the film is that by opening so many channels of communication, we inadvertently open channels by which the dead can contact the living and steal their lives in an attempt to escape the endless isolation of death.

It's really not a bad idea for a horror film, but the original Japanese version's major flaw is that it's paced so slowly -- perhaps necessarily, but that doesn't make it less difficult to watch. The American remake's major flaw is that it sucks in everything but providing a pretty face to look at (Kristen Bell is really gorgeous, and actually talented, though it might be difficult to realize while being distracted by such a crap movie overall). The direction is totally uninspired and the script doesn't bother to really explore what made the original version worth watching in the first place (even if you don't care to see it again). It just fails in all the areas the original succeeded, without compensating in any other areas, except, as noted before, Kristen Bell.

Blah, blah, blah... my short reply is: This movie could have been okay, but they totally fucked it up. If you like Kristen Bell (and you should, because she's awesome), watch VERONICA MARS. ^_^

Walter said:
PS: Autumngism, why'd you even see this? Some chick?

Yes. Kristen Bell. The lead female in the film is the ONLY reason I saw this movie. Well, that and I was slightly curious if they could improve on the original version, but I wasn't expecting them to -- I kinda figured it would be shitty in that sense going in, but... but... Kristen Bell. = /
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Auturgist said:
It's basically all about the isolation and inability of people to truly communicate, and how that's exacerbated by modern communications technologies (in the Japanese version, primarily the internet), which one would think would make communicating easier but in fact serve only to distance us further.
I wrote an essay on this exact subject for my freshman sociology class in college ("great" minds think alike! XD ), but I don't think it necessarily lends itself to a movie, especially not a horror.  The "dead frequency" bit is just corny, in my opinion. 

[horror movie rant]
Whatever happened to in-yo-face social commentary horror movies like Night of the Living Dead, and its awesome sequel, Dawn of the Dead?  All we get nowadays is this psuedo-intellectual garbage that just scratches the surface of the relevant before plunging headfirst into slasher flick, grasping desperately for that oh-so-important target market of teens... WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!
[/rant]
 
Walter said:
I wrote an essay on this exact subject for my freshman sociology class in college ("great" minds think alike! XD ), but I don't think it necessarily lends itself to a movie, especially not a horror. The "dead frequency" bit is just corny, in my opinion.

Well, I'd be inclined to agree based on the two versions of this film. The Japanese version, KAIRO, is really, really slow... like, so slow I stopped watching it on two seperate occasions before I forced myself through it. And PULSE -- well, like I said, PULSE barely attempted to address the real topic behind the original. But at the same time, I like the idea enough that I don't want to believe it's impossible to present well in film, though it's possible horror isn't the way to go in genre. *shrugs*

Walter said:
Whatever happened to in-yo-face social commentary horror movies like Night of the Living Dead, and its awesome sequel, Dawn of the Dead? All we get nowadays is this psuedo-intellectual garbage that just scratches the surface of the relevant before plunging headfirst into slasher flick, grasping desperately for that oh-so-important target market of teens... WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!?!

There was a trailer for THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING, and I just shook my head in shame. Obviously the original is exactly that kind of "in-yo-face social commentary" you described, while the last remake and this new one are shameless Michael Bay productions set on nothing but capitalizing on that "oh-so-important target market of teens".

*sigh*

I wouldn't say it's particularly intellectual, but THE DESCENT is a very solid horror movie that is quite reminiscient of ALIEN, with some nice homage paid to other classic horror films. I saw it a couple months ago (it was released last year in the U.K., but was delayed here so as not to be confused with THE CAVE), but it's in theaters now, and worth seeing if you haven't already.
 

Iscariot

The snack that smiles back!
To sum up the original: it's a waste of time. The point of a true horror movie isn't to make you "think critically", especially during the scenes meant to stir some sort of emotion. Though I can say I laughed pretty hard at some parts... The randomness is to be expected in any Japanese movie, I guess.
I'm not sure how anyone could get me to see this remake. I'd complain about how America is ruining the horror genre, but really, Japan isn't making anything that can be labeled scary. Their movies should be called creep flicks, as that's all I've seen them amount to. Japan, and Eastern Asia in general, sure does love stories seeping with creepiness.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
It's hard to blame Eastern cinema really. To stay afloat in that huge ocean of a market, film makers have to rely on some sort of sensationalism. Hence why the loudest of the shit that has been churning out there sometimes ends up floating like a turd over to America these past 10 years.

Still, it's made film heroes of a handful of actors and directors. Look how successful John Woo wa... oh.
 
Iscariot said:
To sum up the original: it's a waste of time. The point of a true horror movie isn't to make you "think critically", especially during the scenes meant to stir some sort of emotion.

I think the point of a horror movie is to scare you. If the movie succeeds in scaring viewers, either by forcing them to "think critically" about frightening topics, striking at their innermost fears, or having a cat jump out of a closet just as the piano music crashes, I think it's done its job. But, that's not to say it's a good movie overall.

[edit]
For example, if you have ever seen the independent film OPEN WATER, I consider that to be one of the best horror films I've seen in recent years even though it's not at all a typical horror film.
[/edit]

KAIRO succeeded in one way, but failed to be very entertaining; I wouldn't watch it again and wouldn't call it a very good movie, even though it had a good idea behind it. PULSE, on the other hand, failed almost across the board.

Walter said:
Look how successful John Woo wa... oh.

Man, I love FACE/OFF and I don't care who knows it. = P
 

CnC

Ad Oculos
most of these horror movies recently aren't really scary to me. I just sit there.
Even those "gotcha" moments where the scariness of the movie depends on surprising you don't get me anymore.

So I usually just avoid movies like this.
But yea, I was laughing thru the trailer also.
 
No offense but the US hasnt made a descent original horror movie in years, and no I dont count crap like "I Know What you Did Last Summer" despite the fact some people actually found it scary.

Hell they're going to remake old boy and other asian movies, why not the horror...
 
Auturgist said:
Well, I'd be inclined to agree based on the two versions of this film.  The Japanese version, KAIRO, is really, really slow... like, so slow I stopped watching it on two seperate occasions before I forced myself through it.  And PULSE -- well, like I said, PULSE barely attempted to address the real topic behind the original.  But at the same time, I like the idea enough that I don't want to believe it's impossible to present well in film, though it's possible horror isn't the way to go in genre.  *shrugs*

There was a trailer for THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING, and I just shook my head in shame.  Obviously the original is exactly that kind of "in-yo-face social commentary" you described, while the last remake and this new one are shameless Michael Bay productions set on nothing but capitalizing on that "oh-so-important target market of teens".

*sigh*

I wouldn't say it's particularly intellectual, but THE DESCENT is a very solid horror movie that is quite reminiscient of ALIEN, with some nice homage paid to other classic horror films.  I saw it a couple months ago (it was released last year in the U.K., but was delayed here so as not to be confused with THE CAVE), but it's in theaters now, and worth seeing if you haven't already.

Yes like you said, the U.S. takes the Japanese horror films, that really werent THAT great in the first place, and dumb them down to typical jump scare films. At least the originals TRY to become something other than a typical horror film.....

The Descent is amazing. I was waiting for like 6 months for that movie to come out here. Simple premise, amazing direction and execution. Its very old-school almost. But yes, I'm considering getting a mod-chip and buying the U.K. dvd cause i really dont want to wait.
 
the cat in closet is just cheap... really scary movies are the ones that are in the back of my mind everytime i go swimming or travel through middle america... neither of which i do without a good fight...
 

handsome rakshas

Thanks Grail!
CnC said:
most of these horror movies recently aren't really scary to me.  I just sit there.
Even those "gotcha" moments where the scariness of the movie depends on surprising you don't get me anymore.

So I usually just avoid movies like this.
But yea, I was laughing thru the trailer also.

I agree. For some reason I promised my bud that I would go see this with him on Monday. He works at the theater so we go see terrible movies free of charge. The last winner we went to go see was Descent, which was horrible. I thought six lesbians running around in a cave would be hot stuff. It wasn't, but at least Juno was hot. The last "horror" movie I actually enjoyed was Silent Hill. But I attribute that to being such a big fan of the series. But as CnC said, new horror movies are not even scary anymore.
 
handsome rakshas said:
I The last winner we went to go see was Descent, which was horrible. I thought six lesbians running around in a cave would be hot stuff. It wasn't, but at least Juno was hot.

That was the point.   It was interesting that the cast was all female and there WASNT all that stupid shit thats in all horror movies now. There were no  " oh my, my shirts wet, i better take it off" moments, and i thought that was extremely commendable on Neil Marshalls part (director).  Watch the other shit that being dumped into theatres if you want the typical female stereotypes.
 
TheBeast43105 said:
That was the point. It was interesting that the cast was all female and there WASNT all that stupid shit thats in all horror movies now. There were no "oh my, my shirts wet, i better take it off" moments, and i thought that was extremely commendable on Neil Marshalls part (director). Watch the other shit that being dumped into theatres if you want the typical female stereotypes.

Yeah, I totally agree. If they were six lesbians, do you really think they'd have ever left the cabin? At which point, it would have been PORN, not HORROR.

I guess you could keep the title, though, as long as there was lots of oral. = P
 

Iscariot

The snack that smiles back!
Auturgist said:
I think the point of a horror movie is to scare you. If the movie succeeds in scaring viewers, either by forcing them to "think critically" about frightening topics, striking at their innermost fears, or having a cat jump out of a closet just as the piano music crashes, I think it's done its job. But, that's not to say it's a good movie overall.

I had put quotation marks around the words "think critically" for a reason; Kairo's so-called deeper suggestions were wasted effort. Their underlying message succeeded in side-tracking the entire film. As a horror movie, it failed.
 
I have to agree that well the american remakes of J-horror are almost wasted. They are dumbed down to try to get that jump scare from you as everyone's stated. I will say though that PULSE is not a great movie, or even a good movie. But i did see it and it was ok i dont hate myself for seeing it but then again i would say "Omg dude you have to see this movie!!"

But then again im a huge horror fan and a huge J-horror fan, the origional i thought was good stuff. But then again im same way with samurai films its gotta really suck for me to hate it lol. I dont mind much how they changed it but i dont like the ending in the american version thats for sure!

eh my 2 cents i guess :p
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
Yea Pulse was horrible. It was laughable actually. One of the dumbest movies I've ever seen. I only went cause some stupid friend dragged me with him. On the plus side I did get in free so it's not like I wasted my money, just my time. It's actually incredibly easy to sneak into theaters.
 
Auturgist said:
I think the point of a horror movie is to scare you. If the movie succeeds in scaring viewers, either by forcing them to "think critically" about frightening topics, striking at their innermost fears, or having a cat jump out of a closet just as the piano music crashes, I think it's done its job. But, that's not to say it's a good movie overall.
What I like about Kairo is that it's the idea of what the world could be which, in itself, is truly horrifying - that we're all alone in our lives, and after death too, endlessly. It's not about scares that make you jump off your seat. The pace of the movie wasn't a problem for me, I'm one of those guys who enjoys slow movies equally heh.
 

Oburi

All praise Grail
Wow I remember this topic for 2006, and I remember watching this movie in theaters. Probably the worst movie I have EVER seen. Biggest waste of money I .... oh, guess I didn't pay... well now I don't feel so bad. Thank You sk.net forum history!
 
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