Uzumaki (2000 film)

Still from Uzumaki (2000 film)...

Uzumaki, AKA Spiral, Uzumaki the Vortex, Uzumaki - Out of this World, The Vortex (2000)

Summary

Two friends in a small town who notice one's father has become utterly obsessed with snails, videotaping them in his garden and gathering items that resemble the spiral patterns on their shells. The girls see spirals elsewhere, too, even in the way people dress and comport their bodies. When the curiosities turn to tragedies, one girl wants to escape to Tokyo, but the other is determined to stay and figure out what is going on.

Details

• Release Date: 2000
• Country/Language: Japan, Japanese
• Genres/Technical: Horror, Drama, dark Comedy
• Runtime: 1 hr 30 min
• Starring: Eriko Hatsune, Fhi Fan, Hinako Saeki
• Director: Higuchinsky
• Writer: Junji Ito (manga), Kengo Kaji (supervising screenwriter)
• Producer/Production Co: Omega Micott Inc., Shogakukan, Space Shower TV
• View Trailer: (link)

Ratings

MPAA Ratings

• Rated: (not rated) (Perhaps equivalent to a PG or PG-13 for violence?)

Tentacle Ratings

A rough measure of how "Lovecraftian" the work is:

• SS___ (Two Tentacles: Barely Lovecraftian; could be a very loose adaptation)

The writers noted that horror writer H.P. Lovecraft was an inspiration when creating the story, with a Lovecraftian theme of protagonists struggling against a mysterious force stronger than themselves, stating that the gradual development of the spiral curse was patterned on Lovecraft's storytelling and that '[Lovecraft's] expressionism with regard to atmosphere greatly inspires my creative impulse.'

Note: This rating is not intended as a measure of quality, merely of how closely related to Lovecraftian "Weird" fiction the work is.

Reviews

Review Links:

• Lee Roberts at HorrorFreak News, (link) - "This has got to be one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen... this Japanese treat is a cross between Lovecraft and David Lynch...."

Synopsis

 Spoiler Section (Highlight to Read)

Two friends in a small town who notice one's father has become utterly obsessed with snails, videotaping them in his garden and gathering items that resemble the spiral patterns on their shells. The girls see spirals elsewhere, too, even in the way people dress and comport their bodies. When the curiosities turn to tragedies, one girl wants to escape to Tokyo, but the other is determined to stay and figure out what is going on.

Notes

Comments, Trivia, Dedication

• A brief scene from this film appears in a music video for The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets' song, "Yog-Sothoth".

Associated Mythos Elements

• TO DO
• Tentacle Monsters