Kairo (2001)

Director:

Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Writer:

Kiyoshi Kurosawa (writer)

Release Date:

9 November 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Yûrei ni aitai desu ka? (Do you want to meet a ghost?)

Plot:

Japanese university students investigate a series of suicides linked to an Internet Web cam that promises visitors the chance to interact with the dead.

Plot Keywords:

Internet | Shadow | Alone | Forbidden Room | One Word Title

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Haruhiko Katô	...	Ryosuke Kawashima
Kumiko Asô	...	Michi Kudo
Koyuki	...	Harue Karasawa
Kurume Arisaka	...	Junko Sasano
Masatoshi Matsuo	...	Toshio Yabe
Shinji Takeda	...	Yoshizaki
Jun Fubuki	...	Michi's mother
Shun Sugata	...	Boss
Shô Aikawa	...	Employee
Kôji Yakusho	...	Ship Captain
Kenji Mizuhashi	...	Taguchi
Takumi Tanji	...	Man with Bag
Hassei Takano	...	Student A
Atsushi Yuki	...	Student B
Go Takashima	...	Student C
Kaori Ichijô	...	Girl with Long Hair
Teruo Ono	...	Doroningen
Ken Furusawa	...	Convenience Store Employee
Akiko Kitamura
Zengoro Mamiana
Rie Yasuda
Masayuki Shionoya

Directed by
Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Kiyoshi Kurosawa		writer

Produced by
Yasuyoshi Tokuma	....	executive producer
Hiroshi Yamamoto	....	producer

Original Music by
Takefumi Haketa

Cinematography by
Jun'ichirô Hayashi

Film Editing by
Junichi Kikuchi

Production Design by
Tomoyuki Maruo

Art Department
Yoshihisa Kato	....	digital art director (as Yoshihisa Katô)

Sound Department
Makio Ika	....	sound

Visual Effects by
Shûji Asano	....	visual effects supervisor: Links DigiWorks/Rinkusu DejiWâkusu
Masaru Tateishi	....	CG director
Masaru Tateishi	....	visual effects supervisor

Music Department
Cocco	....	composer: song "Hane"
Toru Wada	....	music producer

Other crew
Takeshi Furusawa	....	assistant to director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Mikiko Koyama	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Daiei Eiga

Distributors

• Toho Company (2001) (worldwide) (all media)
• Euripide Distribution (France)
• Madman Entertainment (2006) (Australia) (DVD)
• Magnolia Pictures (2005) (USA) (all media)
• Optimum Releasing (2006) (UK) (DVD)
• Pioneer LDC (2001) (Japan) (DVD)
• Universe Laser & Video Co. Ltd. (Hong Kong) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Links Digiworks (CGI)

Also Known As:

Pulse (International: English title)
The Circuit

MPAA:

Rated R for some violent images.

Runtime:

118 min | Hong Kong:119 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:Not Rated | Germany:12 | Australia:MA (2006) | New Zealand:R13 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Singapore:PG | France:U | Hong Kong:IIB (DVD rating) | South Korea:15

Company:

Daiei Eiga

Trivia:

Director Cameo: ['Kurosawa Kiyoshi']While Kawashima is looking at the various people moping around in some catatonic state via web cam, there is one man who appears to be sleeping on his desk. He then wakes up, raises his head, and looks straight into the camera, facing us. That man is Kurosawa Kiyoshi, writer and director of this film.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Pulse 2: Afterlife (2008) (V)

Soundtrack:

Hane Lay Down My Arms

Major Creep Fest

Why isn't this available in the US?

I don't know how to describe this with out making it sound like something its not, but I have to say that this is one of the creepiest and most disturbing films I've seen in quite some time. Its not perfect, even if I gave it a 10 out of 10, simply because few films have left me that uneasy.

Operating well with a sense that I can only describe as dream logic this concerns the really weird events surrounding several people who notice something is wrong when a friend goes missing. The friend is not the trigger, but the event that they notice making them suspect that all is not right in their world.

Everything about how this story is calculated to send slowly building shivers up and down your spine. There are no real moments of shock, just ever growing horror and unease. I hated the way that this movie made me feel but couldn't stop watching.

If there are any flaws is that the film is a bit long at just under two hours. The pacing wears and the logic, while frightening gets stretched almost to the breaking point.

If you can stand slow calculating horror films that freak you out with images and implications then see this movie. Its one of the best I've seen in a while.