Pulse

People in Tokyo are disappearing one by one. Michi, who works at a plant shop, notices colleagues vanishing after what they see on their computer screens. At the same time Ryosuke, a university student, connects to the internet and lands on a site that opens by itself, showing live images of people sitting alone in rooms. The film's proposition is this: the dead no longer fit where they were, so they are coming here, and trapping the living in loneliness. Kiyoshi Kurosawa directed. It opened on 3 February 2001. The fear here is built by waiting rather than by assault. The ghost scenes move slowly and in long shot, and what is approaching often stands at the edge of the frame. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 76 percent from 55 reviews. One assessment called it a sinister, spine-tingling techno-thriller whose artistry lies in the power of suggestion rather than a barrage of blood and guts. Entertainment Weekly criticised the pacing; Slant Magazine gave it four stars and praised Kurosawa's handling of loneliness in an overcrowded world. It became a cult film and was remade in English in 2006. It placed 65th on Time Out's 2020 list of the greatest horror films. Who it is for: viewers who like slow atmospheric horror and the early unease around the internet. Who it is not for: anyone wanting jump scares. The film almost never startles you with sound, and for some viewers it moves too heavily.