Post by Dead on Dec 6, 2006 0:10:10 GMT -6
Whee... its odd when you come accross a remake that is better than the original. Especially when it comes to J-horror to American cinema. Given the Ring was immensely better to me than Ringu, (although the books are good!) Ju-On was far supperior than The Grudge, and Ringu 2 was Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than The Ring 2.
So, when I saw previews for Pulse, I had no idea at first that it was a remake of a J-horror film. Go figure, I walk into one of the local video stores and low and behold Pulse is sitting there on the shelf in its J-horror format. So naturally I get it..
Watching it, I was perpetually left in a state of confusion, as it jumped around quite a bit, and made little sense.. I kept having a feeling that something was lost in translation, and just had a general feeling of being lost. It didn't help that the subtitles occasionally had fits of Engrish.
At the end of it all, I was pretty much left with a bad taste in my mouth. (yes, Dvd's are generally icky, and not meant to be eaten but on with the review.)
As for the American version, I went to see it in the theatres.. Despite the lack of sound towards the end (thanks theatre!!) It was very much far superrior to its predacessor, thanks mostly due to a coherrant plotline and a new twist towards the end. While not being the absolute best horror film ever made (that goes to Dead Alive!) It was quite entertaining, and worth the price of admission, popcorn and the like.
Story: Somone kills themself after getting a funky computer program, their friends being destraught seek to find answers in his computer and thus the carnage ensues.
Good: In either version, its quite an interesting concept.. kinda like white noise with your computer. Executed well far more in the American version, where you get to see just about anything right up to the television or cell phone being the central source of travel for spooks. Good creepy factor! Nice tho that the ghosts are so pissed off they end up ravaging the entire planet!
Bad: Kinda hokey. I mean, come on, Ghosts in the computer? Whats next, Ghosts in my toaster? The Cg sometimes leaves a bit to be desired. Sometimes a bit drawn out.
What The!? Why do people melt into the wall and leave a big black char mark? Oddness. (specifically the guy whose face turns all freaky as he's doing it.. )
It basically all boils down to this.. avoid the Japanese version.. it was first yes, but not that great.. see the american version, it is far superrior and actually has a story that doesn't jump around so much and makes more sense. Oh.. and stock up on plenty of red tape. You'll need it.
So, when I saw previews for Pulse, I had no idea at first that it was a remake of a J-horror film. Go figure, I walk into one of the local video stores and low and behold Pulse is sitting there on the shelf in its J-horror format. So naturally I get it..
Watching it, I was perpetually left in a state of confusion, as it jumped around quite a bit, and made little sense.. I kept having a feeling that something was lost in translation, and just had a general feeling of being lost. It didn't help that the subtitles occasionally had fits of Engrish.
At the end of it all, I was pretty much left with a bad taste in my mouth. (yes, Dvd's are generally icky, and not meant to be eaten but on with the review.)
As for the American version, I went to see it in the theatres.. Despite the lack of sound towards the end (thanks theatre!!) It was very much far superrior to its predacessor, thanks mostly due to a coherrant plotline and a new twist towards the end. While not being the absolute best horror film ever made (that goes to Dead Alive!) It was quite entertaining, and worth the price of admission, popcorn and the like.
Story: Somone kills themself after getting a funky computer program, their friends being destraught seek to find answers in his computer and thus the carnage ensues.
Good: In either version, its quite an interesting concept.. kinda like white noise with your computer. Executed well far more in the American version, where you get to see just about anything right up to the television or cell phone being the central source of travel for spooks. Good creepy factor! Nice tho that the ghosts are so pissed off they end up ravaging the entire planet!
Bad: Kinda hokey. I mean, come on, Ghosts in the computer? Whats next, Ghosts in my toaster? The Cg sometimes leaves a bit to be desired. Sometimes a bit drawn out.
What The!? Why do people melt into the wall and leave a big black char mark? Oddness. (specifically the guy whose face turns all freaky as he's doing it.. )
It basically all boils down to this.. avoid the Japanese version.. it was first yes, but not that great.. see the american version, it is far superrior and actually has a story that doesn't jump around so much and makes more sense. Oh.. and stock up on plenty of red tape. You'll need it.
