(2008)***
Pulse 2 is set a few years following the events of the original Pulse and depicts a crumbling world where ghosts run amok, killing those that get too close. Because the portals for these ghosts are cell phones and computer networks, the remaining survivors live in “dead zones” where such things do not exist. The story focuses on Stephen and Michelle, a divorced couple who are desperately searching for their missing young daughter. Their search forces them to separately navigate through a ghost-plagued city to find her before she disappears forever. Complicating matters, we soon learn that Michelle is dead and her reasons for locating her daughter might be nefarious.
I’m a big fan of Kairo (2001), a bleak, nihilistic J-horror story about the end of the world. The 2006 remake, Pulse, is terrible for all the reasons that most American remakes of J-horror films are terrible – American filmmakers just don’t “get” it. I started Pulse 2 with lower expectations than I would for a faith healer promising miracles, but then the unthinkable happened, I started to dig it, really dig it. In Pulse 2 the world closely resembles Robert Neville’s world in I Am Legend but instead of vampires the city is sated with lonely, occasionally angry, ghosts. Imagine walking around and seeing ghosts moving about like Samara after she climbs out of the television set and you get the idea.
I read a bunch of reviews of Pulse 2 after I finished watching it and they universally condemned it as a piece of low-budget crap with bad acting and awful fx. For me it struck the bleak tone of Kairo and was just what I needed after a slew of bad films I endured over the past few days. I thought the fx were fine and the acting was horror movie acting, no more, no less. Also, there were some ghost boobs.
7 comments:
I hear this refrain frequently in these blogs of how American re-makes of J-horror flicks are terrible, horrible, disgraceful, condemnable, etc.
Am I the only one that doesn't find this universally true? Now, it is true a majority of the time, but here are some notable exceptions: Ring, Ring 2, The Eye, The Grudge 2.
The Grudge part one was an identical re-make of Ju-On, so I'm not sure that one really even counts. Yes, Pulse, Shutter, Dark Water, and many others were lame, but I really think we sould approach this on a case by case basis.
I find it more universally true than you do. The Ring started the whole trend, and is excellent in all possible ways. Better than the original, in my opinion. Grudge 2 is probably the next best, but it isn't a fifth as good as The Ring.
I hated Ring Two so much I refuse to acknowledge its existence. So what I'm really saying is Ring Two? There is no Ring Two.
But while I disagree with those examples, I completely agree with your point. In fact, I'd say we here at Horrorthon specialize in case by case basis. For instance, I didn't see The Eye remake, so I can't throw in on that one. Sure, it didn't play to the general public, but that is not our yardstick. (I notice thanks to the wonderful Monster List that no 'thonner has reviewed it yet.) Perhaps it has some game. JPX liked Night of the Creeps when nobody else did, I saw some worth in the critically-panned See No Evil, etc.
Nevertheless, our collected findings do seem to indicate the nigh-universal truthfulness of Western imports from the East sucking. If that general opinion is overblown, it's probably because it's always true for the exact same reasons, or even single reason.
Apparently American horror movies can not have a scary moment on screen without one of two sound cues. One is for creepy, "subtle" moments, probably early in the film when a strange detail is discovered (let's say the face of a ghost suddenly discovered in the newspaper). The sound is as of a deep, reverberating drum being struck two rooms away -- almost as if the room tone itself collected into a sonic boom of sorts.
The other is for the big scares, when the menace pops out from the closet and gets ya: a sharp, loud shriek as the soundtrack orchestra's whole string section draw their bows sharply, and the organist mashes the keyboard with both forearms.
This is frustrating because the attitude in play goes precisely opposite the reasons J-horror is so good in the first place.
Hey, I forgot to comment on this post.
I have to admit I like the idea of a post-apocalyptic world in which the menace was supernatural. Can anyone think of that being done before?
Kairo doesn't count because it's the story of the apocalypse itself, original Dawn of the Dead might count under the "no room in Hell" explanation of events, but zombie movies are more visceral than etheral.
Ghosts... taking over the world. Anyone see that before? Anyway, I'm intrigued.
Here's my question though: in this apocalypse, are the power stations running? Because otherwise how are the cell phone signals that maintain the phantoms' presence occuring?
(See? "Phantoms." That's a cool menace.)
What I just said has nothing to do with The Phantom Menace, so don't even go there.
I agree with Octo, nicely put. There was a Ring Two?
If you put JUON and The Grudge side by side you see the difference between the two, the first is scary, the second is not. I completely agree that The Grudge 2 is superior to the original. However, The Ring and The Grudge 2 are exceptions. Watch Shutter and the Shutter remake back to back, or One Missed Call and the One Missed Call remake for excellent examples of the difference between Asian and American scares.
"JPX liked Night of the Creeps when nobody else did" Wait, I thought nobody else saw this film? Perhaps you were referring to another film, Octo?
Hmm. I made a mistake. I thought you wrote that you'd looked up critical response on NotC and it was baaaad, but I'm thinking of another review. Maybe written by someone else.
I looked up reviews on Pulse 2 and nobody liked it, I think that's what you mean.
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