“Uzumaki” is a Japanese horror film from 2000, based on the manga of the same name by Junji Ito. The plot revolves around the small town of Kurôzu, which is haunted by an eerie series of events that all revolve around the motif of spirals.
The main characters, Kirie Goshima and her friend Shuichi Saito, discover that the inhabitants of Kurôzu are gripped by an obsession with spirals, which leads from initial fascination to increasing madness. The story takes a dark turn as people are literally warped into spirals or devoured by a possessed spiral. The tension escalates as the protagonists desperately try to escape the increasing threat.
The film is characterised by its disturbing atmosphere and eerie visual effects. Some of the film’s wackiest ideas and most absurd scenes include, for example, the depiction of people transforming into human spirals and the oppressive idea that spirals can manifest themselves anywhere, be it in the form of hair, snails or even hurricanes. One particularly bizarre scene shows a woman being engulfed by her own strand of hair as it transforms into a grotesque spiral shape. Another scene shows a man obsessed with spinning in a confined space until he spins himself to death.
