Uzumaki ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Uzumaki (meaning spiral or vortex) is a 1999 Japanese movie, based on a Manga comic series by Junji ito. The Mangas have been translated into English, and collected in 3 volumes, which can be purchased from various online sources, including Amazon.Com. I'm not sure if this movie has been legitimately released in the USA, but all region DVD's and VHS tapes are available on Ebay. If you have a DVD player that will play region 3 discs, they can be purchased through Amazon.Com. Ito credits HPL as a source of inspiration in the Manga series, but you won't find any references to Cthulhu Mythos beings, books, or locations in the Manga or movie. What you will find is a unique, disturbing story that shares some of the underlying currents of horror in Lovecraft's work. Uzumaki reminds me more directly of the HPL-influenced writing of Thomas Liggotti and Ramsey Campbell, where the world we think is real begins slipping away, to be replaced by a nightmare! The movie chronicles a series of events in a small Japanese town, mostly through the viewpoint of a teenage girl. An atmosphere of dread and ominous portent is built up slowly, fully in line with HPL's views that plot and characterization are secondary to atmosphere in a horror story. Without betraying specifics, the people of the town slowly succumb to an inexplicable obsession with spirals, leading to behavior and ultimately transformations reminiscent of "The Call of Cthulhu" and "The Shadow Over Innsmouth". The look of the film is reminiscent of Tim Burton's surrealism, used to it's darkest effect. There is no explanation of the events that occur, nor "happy ending" that wraps things up nicely, but if you're weary of the depressingly mundane horrors that the US cinema has to offer, ala "Scream", "I Know What You Did Last Summer", "Resident Evil"and "Darkness Falls", then "Uzumaki" presents a refreshing alternative. In pondering just what makes this
film "Lovecraftian", I find it increasingly difficult
to differentiate between what is just effectively disturbing horror,
and what is strictly Lovecraftian....perhaps this is the greatest
compliment that I could pay to HPL. |
review © Steve Robertson 2003
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