Uzumaki [DVD]

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.

Why do snakes have forked tongues?This is a whimsical horror that's really brilliant. If you didn't get it, just watch it 4 times or so.(and to further confuse you:)a russian fairy tale -The fox and the lobster decide to have a race. They start but the lobster simply clamps onto the fox's tail and rides along. When they get to the finish, the lobster lets go, and the fox turns around and sees him. The lobster says, "I've been waiting here a long time..."Anyways, I enjoyed it utterly, remain rather haunted, and would recommend its study...

Creepy asian found footage

"Uzumaki" is a bizarre little film, taking off from horror-master Ito Junji's classic manga and crafting a disturbing tale of a small town's descent into the overwhelming powers of an unknowable evil. Like all Lovecraftian horror, atmosphere is the important thing, rather than stories or explanations. The greater evil is fundamentally unknowable and completely alien, as well as inescapable.In this case the evil is a shape, a spiral, that invades the daily lives of the town, causing obsession, madness and eventual death. ("Uzumaki" is just "spiral" in Japanese, although the subtitlers saw fit to leave it untranslated, perhaps so as not to confuse it with the "Ringu" sequel "Spiral".) The shape begins to imprint itself on everything, creeping slowly into the lives and minds of the residents. The two most normal people in the town, a young high school couple Kirie and Shuichi, and the most resistant to its influence and must witness the disintegration.While excellent in creating atmosphere, the film is not without its flaws. Most of the cast are amateurs, with "Uzumaki" being their only film. This was the first feature for director Higuchinsky, and he does not weave his story as fluently as a more experienced hand could have. The lead actress, Hatsune Eriko, is equally inexperienced but delightfully charming. She carries the film well, and I would like to see more of her.The DVD is a good package, including a "Making of..." documentary and some other nice features. Extras seem to be rare on Japanese horror DVDs, so this is an treat.Definitely not a classic along the lines of "Ringu" or "Ju-on," "Uzumaki" is still a good film and worth watching. Fans of HP Lovecraft and his style of horror will be instant fans, while others might be unsatisfied by the lack of answers and clear-cut resolution.

I don't get all the rave reviews here.After watching for an hour and a half all i saw was guy with brains open after falling through a stairwell.So no horror at all.It is not even sinister-just a few people vaguely concerned about something vaguely concerning spirals eg;The obessive man who collects spiral objects-his wife throws them out the house and he's not even that upset!!i have patience for the subtle but nothing going on here and i'm somewhat irritated this got classed in the horror section.I missed last 1/2hr of the film as the disc froze-hell maybe it turned tables but i doubt it.Utter rubbish.

When I purchased this movie, I thought that it was going to be a great Japanese horror movie. It turned out to be just weird and a little creepy, not really scary and gory like I was hoping, but its definitely something I have never seen before.

This is an interesting stylish flick. Nice eerie vibes. Good flick to come back to years down the line.

Bring a sense of humour and a puzzled expression. Hilarious in parts but too over the top to get involved with. I was waiting for the end of the film about 40 mins before it came.Watch for curiosity value, but I wouldn't part with money if I'd seen it first.