'Pulse (2001)' is primarily about loneliness. Its horror comes not from its phantoms themselves, but from the existential crisis that the presence of those phantoms provokes. As such, it's a little difficult to nail down. It's an enigmatic, often almost ethereal experience that never quite gives you the answers you desire, instead preferring to suggest potential explanations of its central concept without actually confirming anything. As such, it's both a little hard to grasp and equally as hard to shake off. It whispers in your ear that you're right to be afraid, that everything won't be okay in the end. It's heavy stuff, for sure. That's not to say it's especially depressing or anything like that, though. It's bleak, but it isn't heavy-handed; it isn't trying to convert you to its near nihilistic way of thinking. It's definitely a distinct experience. It isn't always super compelling and it sort of drags as it heads towards its finale, but it's an otherworldly and oddly beguiling horror film nevertheless. 7/10.
Review of Pulse
