Kairo (The Pulse)

Kairo or the Pulse as it is known in America follows a group of college students who investigate a mysterious webcam feed that invites people to talk to ghosts.  American moviegoers may remember a movie called the Pulse that came out in 2006, featuring a bunch of CGI antics and a lot of action and explosions (at least that’s what I recall anyway, I’ve not watched the movie in years.)

In any case, Kairo is the movie that the Pulse is based off of.  The American version is essentially an exact remake of the original, save that in true American fashion the movie is more of a “Boo! I scared you!” kind of movie than the typical Japanese atmospheric ghost story.

Kairo does rely a lot upon atmosphere.  It seems no one in Tokyo paid their electric bill while the movie was being made because most of the scenes were so dark you couldn’t see what was going on.  Normally I like the build up in a Japanese movie; the Audition was mostly build up but man did it pay off!

But here it never did.  Kairo was a joke without a punchline, if you will. This is one of the few times where I can genuinely say that I enjoyed the American remake better than the Japanese original.  The American movie at least made me jump: the Japanese one almost made me snore.  I found myself lapsing into checking my Twitter feed and doing research for the current story I’m working on.

There were a lot of interesting themes in this story; it wasn’t so much a ghost story as social commentary with a ghost story facade.  As is often the case, social commentary was what made this story ponderous.  It was basically about how lonely and disconnected modern society is, how we basically live together apart.  I’m told that’s more of a problem in Japan than it is here in America, but I’m thinking we’re increasingly catching up with them on that front (after all, America has to be #1 at everything….even bad stuff!)

I don’t mind deep themes and all that jazz, but first and foremost a movie has to be entertaining.  It must engage me before it tries to preach at me; who knows if I’m engaged I might listen?  Kairo didn’t do that.  I was mostly just bored.  And kind of hungry.  Hey look! Shiny!

…see what I mean?

If you’re a fan of the American movie give this one a look, if only to see where the remake came from (I always like to compare them to see how they match up.)  If you’re a fan of psychological thriller’s this one is for you (they’re hit or miss for me.)  If you like a fast-paced, scare-your-pants-off thrill ride, this isn’t the movie for you.  All and all I give Kairo an “eh, it was okay.”