MovieChat Forums > Kairo (2005) Discussion > The epitome of what truly 'Creepy' is...

The epitome of what truly 'Creepy' is...


I wouldn't say this film is scary - but it is damn creepy - it's the kind of movie that, once you are done with it, you just want to find people and NOT BE ALONE. Not because you are scared, but because this film just touches on the true horror of isolation. I love, love, LOVE the way it created a world that is slowly becoming devoid of humanity - I saw it as an allegory to what technology is doing to our culture today.

Scary? No. Jump out of your seat? Not even once ... but damn if this wasn't the most eerie, creepy, dread-inducing movie I've ever seen!

I'm not sure I'm capturing in words what the movie made me feel. Does anyone understand what I'm getting at?

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I couldn't for the life of me, have said it any better!!!! Still my fav horror film till this day & exactly for the reasons you just wrote. Thank you!!!!

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I don't remember much about the movie. Just that the end saddened me so much and I thought it wasn't that scary... that was until I tried to go to sleep...
I didn't sleep that night, nor did I have a good night's sleep the next. I don't think I'll ever be watching this movie again.
Absolutely horrible experience and at the same time the best horror movie ever.

I think that whole philosophy about dying, being alone, ending up as a discoloration on a wall where you whisper "help me" forever... it just got to me. I tried too hard to let myself be scared, I wanted to feel something. Maybe it's the illusion of not being scary that makes you open up and get affected by that feeling of loneliness.

This movie wouldn't be scary if you watched it objectively, if you wanted to prove that it wasn't. It's only scary when you watch it with an open mind, if you let yourself be scared. And even then you might only realize what's scary after a while, or when you try to sleep, alone.

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I totally agree with what everything that was said here. However, with my experience, I went in this wanting to prove to myself that I wouldn't be scared; for many reasons, I cannot seem to be scared of films nowadays (American horror movies have poor craftsmanship, bad acting, story, cliche, not to mention, I work as an editor so I can already deconstruct cuts/shots that are supposedly 'frightening')...that is UNTIL I saw Pulse last summer.

I actually saw it with my brother and he fell asleep. We were home alone at his two-story house and it was one of rare summer nights where it was windy and was raining (we live in the LA area), so the atmosphere was naturally creepy. I didn't think I'd be scared until the first "door" scene where he peels the red tape. Before that, the movie just lingers and dreads on you where you can feel something is going to happen, but it hasn't, yet. I ended up watching the entire film (like at 3am) and was absolutely frightened with it (in addition to the bigger ideas that were behind it).

I tried sleeping upstairs, but there were no lights available and all I kept hearing lightning, thunder,rain, and the buzzing sound that electronic appliances sometimes emit (it's funny because after seeing Pulse, I began to pay attention to ALL the sounds electric appliances made); after 20 minutes, I just couldn't take it anymore and went downstairs on the couch. I was so glad I never saw that film alone and I'm an adult.

Hollywood should really take note; this is how you scare/creep someone out w/o shoddy surveilance cameras/edits but also make a intellectually stimulating film.

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I totally agree. This movie is incredibly slow-moving with nearly no violence or jump scares, so it lulls you into gazing at its mesmerizing images as it slowly infects you with a deep nihilistic dread. It taps into primal fears of loneliness, alienation and isolation - all of which are synonymous with certain death for social animals like humans. Not only does it present the prospect of dying alone and forgotten, but an even more terrifying prospect of being trapped forever in eternal loneliness. That's the definition of hell for most people, and that's what makes it such effective horror without spilling a drop of blood.

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I also completely agree, totally creepy. One of the better ones I've seen in that regard.

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Yep, this movie is amazing.

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Kyoshi K really knows how to disorient and stage a real eerie-ass creepshow with such limited means. Lighting, soundtrack (the low, unsettling rumble must be carrying over from one of David Lynch's soundstages), power of suggestion... stuff barely glimpsed in the corner of the eye... There's true power in subtlety, insinuation y'kno. And Pulse & Cure are truly some of the modern horror classics every serious film enthusiast should see.



"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan

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The IMDb boards are shutting down. Check out my YouTube channel if you are interested in reviews of Asian horror films. I've covered over 500 of them already.

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Agreed. Just finished it, and honestly, I feel nauseous from the amount of dread I've felt over the course of the film. Amazing cinematography, freaky, low-key sound design, restrained pacing, a script that taps into the existential horror of the human condition... this film is pretty much everything I've ever wanted in a horror film. It was too good.

I'm going to go hug my dog now.

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The IMDb boards are shutting down. Check out my YouTube channel if you are interested in reviews of Asian horror films. I've covered over 500 of them already.

YouTube Asian Movie Review Channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/anticlimacus100

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the thought of it is very scary indeed, i thought the execution of the premise could have been better







so many movies, so little time

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