Right, so I've already made it clear that I should never watch creepy Japanese/Korean/Chinese movies at 3 a.m. See, ordinarily horror movies don't scare me. Why?

1. They're carbon copies/remakes of movies I've seen and the originals were far better. Example: When a Stranger Calls, though its original sequel creeped me out more. I kept touching my walls for weeks, worried I'd find flesh and a hand grabbing me instead of plaster.
2. They're interchangeable slasher flicks. Yes, yes, you'll jump at the appropriate moments, you'll feel revulsion at certain scenes, and you may even grab whoever you're seeing it with (providing you're not braving it on your own), but most of the time, it's not a lingering horror. Example: The Haunting, which I still can't watch alone in the dark.
3. I've seen so many American ones that I can predict what's coming. Sure, I've been surprised by who's been killed off, but most of the time, it's a fairly rote cast of characters with methods of disposal. You read any of those horror movie rules/features floating around on the internet (The Cabinet of Dr. Casey had a pretty good list - one thousand or so -- and after a while, most modern horror tend to blur together.)

This long-winded rant basically means that while I feel prepared for most American horror movies, Asian ones have the ability to leave lingering scars. I don't know the rules they follow, their ghosts are much more vindictive, enigmatic and terrifying than those in Western folklore, and I always think I see something out of the corner of my eye. That's the kind of disturbance that can stick with you for years (still bearing marks left by Uzumaki).

And yet I'm still watching them at 3 a.m. Sigh. Going back to Marebito with a cup of tea.

Three Things You Should Probably Not Do If You Ever Want To Sleep Again

1. Don't drink a great deal of Cherry Coke.
2. Don't eat your Valentine's candy while drinking aforementioned Cherry Coke.
3. For all that is sacred, don't watch a creepy Japanese horror movie with things that flicker out of the corner of your eye on the screen. Did you learn nothing from watching Ringu?

I mean seriously, how stupid is it to watch Pulse, especially given I enjoy:

1. Sleeping
2. Being on the Internet and communicating by phone.
3. Not being afraid of my walls.

So, Pulse. Really intensely unnerving. Yes, there's gobs of existential philosophy, pretentious dialogue, and the usual confused but plucky Japanese heroine (c.f. Ringu, Uzumaki, et al), but above all, it's a film that's doing a bang-up job of making me afraid of computers.

Which is sad. At least when I watched Uzumaki I didn't become afraid of spirals. Horribly obsessed with etymology relating to them, but I didn't freak out. Not so here. Gah.

Also, thank you, Roommaker (subsidiary of that incredibly popular elouai DollMaker program) for allowing me to choose to furnish my virtual room with a cabinet containing the girl from Ringu (seriously, WTF?). Now I can traumatize myself even further.