Uzumaki Director: Higuchinsky Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Closed-captioned Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 90 minutes Studio: ELITE ENTERTAINMENT Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2004-07-06 Buy from Amazon

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 22 Average rating: 4.0 "Totally freaky and disturbing" The ending of this film is sure to leave you thinking long after you otherwise might have wanted to--particularly because (without giving away anything) it's so disturbing and inexplicable. Somehow Japanese directors have learned to create horror with skill which far surpasses anything any U.S. director has done in years--and Uzumaki is an eerie example. Although the film seems somewhat slow in the middle, remarkably, even that casual, ponderous build-up adds to the tension--and the payoff is simply devastating. Terrific picture for anyone who likes impressionistic horror. "A diamond of a film" If you liked the insular mood of a small town as well-exemplified in the film, "The Missing Gun," combined with the impending horror of Ringu, then this is what you need to get for yourself. Uzumaki ("spiral") shows itself from the start of the film and as it moves along, you see spirals disappear, move, appear, and revolve until you don't know if you're making them up yourself or if they're actually in the film. The stark and horrid imagery of people caught up in spirals is worse than what you actually see but it's that glancing "not sure if I saw it" kind of horror that you remember more than anything else. It was the main actress' first film ever though you (almost) couldn't tell; she seems to be an island of sanity as the town goes mad for spirals, but her role is not wooden. You feel "cheated" 75% along the way for someone has found some logical explanation but the opportunity is lost to pursue it, saving you from a pat answer to the madness. Instead, the film spirals into the spirals, pulling you in and leaving you spun out of control at the whims of the director. I didn't give it a 5 because I was able to sleep at night after seeing the film. "Spirals, spirals everywhere" A small Japanese seaside town, Kurozou, has been plagued by strange happenings as of late. It began with minutia, manifesting itself in the form of obsession with a shape, the Uzumaki, and has gradually growing. Yes, it comes in other sizes, smoke in the form of the spiral and within madness seems to infest others, and the bodycount has grown with it. And Kirie, a young schoolgirl, sees it transpiring all aorund her. First she notices the difference in her best friend's father, with him going from productive to obsessive to downright bizarre. And then, after an incident with form-fitting flesh into a washing machine, it begins to take apart the town as a whole. And it all hinges, somehow, on the spirals appearing everywhere. While this movie was definitely shot on a budget, I liked the presentation of the tale. In a short span of time it manages to take Uzumaki Volume 1 ( by Junji Ito - read it if you haven't) and details it, oftentimes short story by short story, until it's a workable piece of film. In fact, it manages to go through many of the minute details a Graphic Novel can skip, adding in day-to-day living in small sequences of frames and thereby thickening the terror to come. That means that a lot of time is spent exploring Kirie and the people around her, giving a face to those victimized by is going to come, and that's something I enjoyed. One minute you're strolling with the cares of a teenager on your shoulders, and the next minute you'd find those not-so-normal snails crawling up the side of your school. O, yeah. Since I made a comment on the budget, I also feel the need to say that I was honestly surprised by some of the effects that the movie presented. The atmospheric setting was lovely, with the groundwork darkening as the movie goes forward and tiny things going a long way in making shivers run the spine. Imagery sitting out of the corner of one's eye, little spirals appearing in the air and in water running down the sidewalk, deepen the tale and make it tasty. So, I was pretty happy with a lot of that. I was also happy with the way people could be taken and made almost monstrous with only hints of visuals, thereby making the curse all-the-more real. And the hair scene from the Graphic Novel, not to mention Jack-in-the-box, was interestingly placed into the movie. All that said, the movie doesn't really tell a complete story (for readers, it only covers Volume 1) and might be a little confusing and thereby lessened if watched without reference. So, before seeing this, I'd recommend reading Uzumaki Volume 1 (Junji Ito) to give it a little more oomph. It helps to provide more detail, making this random string of curses brought by the spiral into something of groundwork, and it also gives the viewer an option of completing the tale by adding in two other volumes. I'd also not recommend it to someone expecting a pace that is ominous, because the movie doesn't really work like that. It works on a subtle level, building toward the bizarre. That added, I personally found the movie a lovely trip and would recommend it to those that like horror on a budget. Anything that makes me distrust my own fingerprints is a good thing. "Uzumaki is a broken spiral" Well, if you love Japanese horror movies and by now realize and accept some of their idiosyncrasies, you will probably like this one. The "spiral" is the central theme of this movie, as a sort of spiritual/alien invasion of a small town. The problem is the plot is undercut by over-the-top humor and gore in odd places, and one doesn't get the same impression of horror as in Ringu or in the Chinese movie "The Eye." That aside I DID enjoy this film, and the transfer and menus are lovely. The most enjoyable extra is the interview with the lead young actress. I believe the true theme of the movie, as in Ringu, is the sense of family disconnection. The local flavor of the small town is perfect, according to my wife who is from Taiwan. I recommend with reservations. "Creepy fun" I will simply say 'ditto' to the fact that this is a weird, fun movie. A summation of the plot is uselesss since it is impossible to fully explain what is happening (a good thing!). A tale of japanese students with odd cliques in a city ruled by spiral shapes. It should be added that the sound and music do a lot to add to the creepy atmosphere. Lastly, it should be added that the tale has a precursor in japanese tails of a serpent who lives in a lake, wreaking havoc on a city. The story seems to take that and runs with it creating beautiful, creepy imagery that will stick with you. I TiVo'd this off IFC and found myself replaying parts just for the odd imagery. Keep an eye out for wierd visual metaphors and changes to the city. Great for anyone who liked off beat tales like Donnie Darko or Solaris.