Uzumaki / Spiral (2000) - Artistically addicting, a good acting and a mysterious and surreal story will keep you on the edge of your seat - 8/10 (14/10/11)

"Uzumaki" is another surreal and twisted fantastic psycho thriller coming from Japan. The movie convinces with a surprisingly good acting by rather unknown actors, a creepy atmosphere and tons of mysterious events. From an artistic point of view, there are many original camera angles and focus variations in this movie and of course the obsession with spiral forms that are sometimes evident but sometimes also really well hidden in this movie. "Uzumaki" is very detailed and requests several viewings if you want to discover all those details.

Aside of that, let's mention that the movie has been inspired by a manga series but has a different and somewhat unusual ending. It's a typically modern Asian movie that may not please and be suited for all publics because it has an experimental touch, a weird surreal story and no precise storyline. This movie simply tells the story of a charming old Japanese town that gets haunted by a twisted spell connected to a menacing obsession with spirals.

I surely have seen better and even more twisted Asian movies in the last years but the artistic factor, the great acting and the surprising storyline will still keep you on the edge of the seat until a more or less convincing but surely courageous and unpopular ending. This is another piece of Japanese culture and should be a very solid add to the collection of anyone who adored movies such as "Premonition", "Infection", "Tomie", "Marebito" or even the Korean "Acacia".