Pulse Remake Is Happening — But Does This J-Horror Classic Need Another Reboot?

Pulse Is Coming Back. Again.

Hollywood is going back to one of Japan’s creepiest corners of horror.

Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse is getting another English-language remake, with Never After Dark filmmaker Dave Boyle attached to direct for Sony’s Screen Gems and Spyglass. Boyle is also expected to take a pass at the existing script by Luke Piotrowski. Parker Finn and Jonathan Fass are producing through Bad Feeling.

And yes — this isn’t the first time Hollywood has tried it.

The original Pulse (Kairo) arrived in 2001 and became one of the defining J-horror films of its era. Instead of relying on constant jump scares, Kurosawa built its horror around isolation, technology, disappearing people and the terrifying possibility that something from the other side could enter our world through the internet.

That idea was unsettling in 2001.

Today, it might be even worse.

Why Pulse Still Feels Relevant

The original movie understood something that horror filmmakers still use today:

Technology can make us feel more connected while making us completely alone.

In Pulse, strange supernatural events begin surrounding computers, the internet and mysterious online activity. The horror isn’t simply about ghosts.

It’s about loneliness spreading through a connected world.

The new movie will reportedly be set in the modern era with a new group of characters, but the filmmakers are keeping the actual plot details under wraps.

That could be a very interesting update.

Because the internet of 2026 is nothing like the internet of 2001.

We live through our phones now.

Social media never stops.

AI-generated content is everywhere.

People can be surrounded by millions of digital connections and still feel completely isolated.

If Pulse gets that right, the remake could have a genuinely disturbing reason to exist.

But Here’s the Problem…

We’ve already seen Hollywood try this.

The 2006 American Pulse remake was poorly received and was followed by two sequels.

So horror fans have an obvious question:

Why remake it again?

That’s a fair question.

Kurosawa’s original has developed a cult reputation for its atmosphere and slow-burning dread. It doesn’t need bigger monsters or louder scares to work.

In fact, that’s exactly what makes this remake interesting.

Dave Boyle is probably a better fit than the average Hollywood filmmaker.

His work has frequently involved Japanese settings or Japanese/Japanese-American characters, and his upcoming supernatural horror film Never After Dark has already attracted attention from genre audiences.

So we’re not completely writing this one off.

Not yet.

GHorror Take

We’re cautiously interested.

A bad Pulse remake could simply repeat the mistakes of the past.

But a modern Pulse that understands how terrifying the internet has become could potentially turn one of J-horror’s classic ideas into something genuinely disturbing again.

And honestly, that’s the version we want.

Don’t remake Pulse just to remake Pulse.

Make it because the original’s nightmare has somehow become even more relevant.

We’ll be watching this one very closely.

Would you watch another Pulse remake?

–> Absolutely
–>The original is untouchable
–>Only if they modernize the concept
–>Hollywood should leave it alone

What do you think?