Critic's Pick — Shocktober: 'Pulse'

The J-horror era of the late ’90s/early Aughts was such a gotdamn blur. That initial wave of influential, artfully terrifying Japanese horror films slowly but surely crept its way into U.S. multiplexes and video stores back in the day, especially after The Ring (adapted from the 1998 flick Ringu) became a smash and studios immediately went after other haunting Asian imports to adapt. The 2001 techno-thriller Pulse (which will screen at the Belcourt in a new 4K restoration) had its inevitable U.S. counterpart in 2006, with then-fresh faces Kristen Bell and Ian Somerhalder playing young characters who discover an influx of ghosts infiltrating spaces through the internet. As always, it doesn’t beat Cure director Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s eerie, existential original (which finally hit America a year before the remake), perhaps one of the most prophetic allegories on losing yourself via the World Wide Web. Whether you’re dead or alive, either staring at it or stuck inside it, the ’net is gonna get you and fuck you up regardless. Showing Oct. 27 as part of the Belcourt's Shocktober series.

2:15 and 8 p.m. at the Belcourt

2102 Belcourt Ave.