Theres another spiral in the deepest part of your ear A small island community is terrorised by an abstract shape, which begins to have occult effects on the citizens. Obsessed with spirals, people begin to see the shape everywhere they go: in the curls of someones hair, the corkscrew patterns on a snail, in food, in whirlpools and staircases and washing machines and round and round and round https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9U4JqO5hxo Based on the manga of the same name, nothing about Uzumaki makes sense, because its not designed to give pat explanations to the audience. Sure, it makes reference to a cult of snake-worshippers who used to practice their religion at the pond, and as spiralling stormclouds touch down on the surface of the water, there are hints of some form of god that has its resting place there. But really, these are just narrative pads, points that anchor the non-linear narrative just as Fulcis haunted hotel anchors The Beyond. The four parts, or arcs the film is divided into do something similar, providing structure to the film A Premonition, Erosion, Visitation, and finally Transmigration all suggest a dynamic build, the supernatural occurrences and possession getting worse, more pronounced. The high school students begin to transform into snails, as the weather gets worse, the green palette that suffuses the film becoming more and more pronounced. The heros classmate has hair curling in intricate spiral shapes, hair that takes on a life of its own and begins to corrupt the children that come into contact with it. When the sky itself appears to have been corrupted by the curse of the spiral, spiral shapes appearing in the clouds along with the ghostly faces of the spirals victims, the community appears doomed, twisted into the shape of the vortex... Creepy, compelling and absurd without ever sacrificing the atmosphere of dread to the comedy, Uzumaki is one of the most bizarre, horrifying, intriguing films of all time. Whats the strangest horror film youve ever seen? Tell us all about it in the comments
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
