Review: "Pulse" (2001)

What would happen if ghosts were to take over our world? That’s one of the key themes that “Pulse” explores. Visually inventive and chilling, it uses the Internet as metaphor to make a statement about urban loneliness and isolation.

“Pulse” follows two inter-connected story lines. One involves a young woman who works at a plant nursery and is investigating the mysterious suicide of a colleague. While searching his apartment, she finds a computer disk containing eerie images of shadowy apparitions. The other storyline focuses on a technologically-challenged university student who logs on to the Internet and is exposed to a computer virus which links to a website that invites him to “meet a ghost”. He enlists the help of a computer geek who is researching supernatural incidents on the Internet. They discover that the pictures appear to be linked to various disappearances, with victims either killing themselves or turning into dust. As the disappearances increase, the characters must bond in order to survive.

Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s eschews excessive gore and shock effects for more restrained psychological horror. Pacing is deliberately slow. Characters talk about death and contemplate the terrifying notion that the afterlife is nothing more than eternal loneliness. Shadows, dim lighting and framing are used effectively to create a mood of dread and melancholy. Kurosawa's vision of a post-apocalyptic Tokyo is deeply unsettling: preternaturally quiet and devoid of people, it's no more than an empty shell.

Review: "Painted Skin" (2008)

“Painted Skin” is a satisfying if melodramatic thriller that tells a tale of unrequited love and revenge involving demons and humans. Combining romance with comedy and kung-fu antics in the vein of old-school Hong-Kong supernatural action flicks like the “The Bride with White Hair”, “Painted Skin” is an enjoyable guilty pleasure.

Adapted from a short story by novelist Pu Song Ling, “Painted Skin” is about a fox spirit, disguised as a beautiful woman (Xiao Wei), who falls in love with a handsome warrior (Wang Sheng) and schemes to lure him away from his loyal wife (Pei Rong). Donnie Yen is a former army general and martial artist extraordinaire who teams up with a local demon buster to thwart the fox spirit's plans.

Those expecting visceral horror and fast-paced martial arts may be disappointed. The movie is fairly light on action and the fight scenes are mediocre at best. The romantic drama is compelling as it explores themes of fidelity, loyalty and true love. The showdown between Xiao Wei and Pei Rong is one of the film’s highlights. Cinematography, music and set design are also impressive.