Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Moderate
- eerie
- grotesque
- surreal
- cult horror night
- late night viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film's creepy atmosphere, imaginative visuals, sound design, and grotesque set pieces while finding its story unresolved and its terror inconsistent.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Residents mutate into spiral-related forms, including a student becoming snail-like and hair behaving like serpentine coils.
Spirals appear in videotapes, bodies, hair, smoke, and the town's escalating supernatural disturbances.
The Japanese town's inhabitants become progressively possessed by manifestations of the spiral.
The film presents bizarre deaths and mutations with an offbeat, sometimes knowingly exaggerated visual style.
Films like Uzumaki, and why
Ringu
shared japanese horror atmosphere, supernatural dread, and visually stylized escalation
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
shared surreal small-town horror, uncanny imagery, and david lynch-inspired atmosphere
Society
shared body horror, grotesque transformation, and unsettling practical effects
Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse
shared japanese supernatural horror, eerie sound design, and apocalyptic unease
Movie Details
- Director
- Higuchinsky
- Release Date
- 2000-02-11
- Runtime
- 90 min
- Rating
- 5.9 / 10 (275)
Cast
- Eriko Hatsune
- Fhi Fan
- Hinako Saeki
- Shin Eun-kyung
- Keiko Takahashi
- Ren Osugi
- Denden
- Masami Horiuchi
- Tarō Suwa
- Toru Tezuka
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- AsianCrush, Midnight Pulp, Cineverse Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video
- Buy
- Amazon Video
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Uzumaki about?
- A teenage girl watches her Japanese town unravel as an inexplicable spiral obsession turns everyday life into surreal body horror.
- What is Uzumaki like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Uzumaki as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Uzumaki violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Uzumaki as moderate.
- What did critics think of Uzumaki?
- Critics broadly praised the film's creepy atmosphere, imaginative visuals, sound design, and grotesque set pieces while finding its story unresolved and its terror inconsistent.
- Which films are like Uzumaki?
- Films with a similar feel include Ringu, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Society, and Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Pulse.
- How long is Uzumaki?
- Uzumaki runs 90 minutes.
- Where can I watch Uzumaki?
- In United States, Uzumaki streams on AsianCrush, Midnight Pulp, Cineverse Amazon Channel.
