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Pulse

(Kiyoshi Kurosawa, 2001, Japan) 

Introduced by Scott Woods, Streetlight Guild founder

35MM Print

A woman sits at a table in the foreground, behind her another woman stands against the wall.

One of the lesser-known—but most potent—films from the modern golden age of Japanese horror, Pulse creates an unparalleled spell of unease!

Like the J-horror classics Ringu and The Grudge, Pulse portrays a sense of dread that can be passed from one person to the next, in this case through the internet—which in 2001 was still a fairly new technology. A group of young friends is devastated by the sudden suicide of one of their own but even more distressed by his ghostly reappearance in grainy computer and video images. Kiyoshi Kurosawa (Cure) is one of horror’s great masters of unnerving atmospheres, and with Pulse he taps into one of the greatest anxieties of the internet age: being quietly trapped in our own loneliness forever. In Japanese with English subtitles. (119 mins., 35mm) 

Goreometer: 3 / 4
Overwhelming existential dread and strong themes of suicide. 

See the entire International Horror lineup.

IMAGE CAPTION
Pulse, courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

"The best of the internet-horror subgenre and one of the most terrifying movies ever made."
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Program Support

COPROMOTIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY

Seventh Son

Antiques on High

Getaway Brewing

FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY

Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY

Greater Columbus Arts Council

The Wexner Family

Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts

CampusParc

The Columbus Foundation

Every Page Foundation

Mellon Foundation

Axium Packaging

Nationwide Foundation

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Pulse