The movie centers on the inhabitants of a small Japanese town who become increasingly obsessed with and tormented by spirals. This abstract concept manifests in grotesque ways, such as a teenager's long hair beginning to curl and take over her mind, or a corpse wound around itself.
Gussied up with so many distracting special effects and visual party tricks that it's not clear whether we're supposed to shriek or laugh.
Nitrate Online
September 09, 2002
Succumb to its creepy charms, and you'll never see inner-ear anatomy diagrams, umbrellas, or escargot in quite the same way. You might even hand over laundry chores to someone else.
Adapted from a horror comic by Junji Ito, this debut feature from Japanese music-video director Higuchinsky begins eerily but doesn't take long to descend into silliness.
Ultimately the, yes, snail-like pacing and lack of thematic resonance make the film more silly than scary, like some sort of Martha Stewart decorating program run amok.
eye WEEKLY
August 26, 2002
Eerie and slimy enough to give Tim Burton nightmares, Uzumaki is a superb piece of fantasy cinema.
