Title: Uzumaki aka Vortex aka Spiral
Genre: Drama
Director: Higuchinsky
Format: Movie, 90 minutes.
Dates: 11 Feb 2000

Synopsis: Goshima Kirie is a fairly normal girl who lives with her father in a quiet town. However, her boyfriend, Saito Shuichi has an eerie feeling about the town and the effect it is having on his spiral-obsessed father and many of the other townspeople. Many strange events begin to happen in the town, all seemingly connected with the mysterious symbol of the spiral and Dragonfly Pond.

The Highlights
Acting: Frequently awkward and unnatural.
Atmosphere: Non-existent most of the time; hampered by other flaws.
Story: Pointless; less a story and more a series of events.
Characters: Little more than observers.
Ending: Ends with no answered questions.

I can’t say I was overly impressed with the Uzumaki manga, but it wasn’t bad. There were times where it got rather ridiculous, but equally there were moments that generated a great amount of tension. This balance is heavily shifted towards the former in Uzumaki’s live action outing, resulting in a film to forget and avoid. However, it’s not the poor execution of the attempt at horror that’s Uzumaki’s biggest issue… rather it’s the complete lack of a story.

As a visual experience, this film is lacking. The camera work is shoddy at times, and the directing and cinematography is questionable at the least. Overacting dominates the performances, with many lines and scenes delivered in an awkward, unnatural fashion. However the “highlight” performance comes from Fhi Fan in his wooden portrayal of Saito Shuichi, making for a refreshing change from the rest of the cast. The special effects aren’t overly impressive either, but improve (and by “improve”, I mean “become less noticeable”) as the film goes on. These flaws, among others, constantly detract from what little atmosphere Uzumaki can generate. Scenes that are intended to be frightening and chilling rarely are, while twisted and uncanny moments mostly come off as absurd.

However the biggest problem in Uzumaki is its story, or lack thereof. Much like the first half of the manga, Uzumaki follows a series of seemingly unrelated bizarre events, but while the second half of the manga ties these events together into a cohesive story, the film just doesn’t have the time to do so, choosing a rather clumsy point to end and making the entire progression seem pointless. There is virtually zero characterization and the characters rarely show any reasons for the audience to sympathize with them, such as strong or heroic displays in spite of their constant crises. Instead they spend most of the film merely observing the devolution of the town.

In the end, Uzumaki is little more than a series of twisted events. As a horror piece, this film is terrible. However, as a mystery, this film is worse; the questions are only barely touched on, while the answers are left completely open without even a hint offered to quell the audience. With a cast of forgettable characters, a dearth of tense moments and a story that goes no where and does nothing, there’s not much in Uzumaki that redeems it. Read the manga if you must, but skip the film.

The Rating: 4

Reviewed by: Sorrow-kun