Once again japanese filmmakers continue to blown my mind! This film was quite hyped up, by fans of manga,horror, & fantasy/sci-fi films & books, so needless to say I waited for the film to come to america for about 5 months! Well, my bandmate procured a copy (All HAILZ TO GURGE!), & the day he got it we sat down to watch what so many had hyped so hard about. Well, this was far beyond my expectations, a nightmarish Lovecraftian type tale written by Junji Ito. The story centers around an island, & one girl that lives there. Odd occurrences are abound in this town, & they all center around a fascination with ANYTHING in the form of a spirals,swirls, a.k.a. Vortex or Uzumaki. This film goes beyond the horror of the recent days of japan, and explores a deep,dark mystery that enshrouds & engulfs the viewer as well as the town. The director is obviously influenced by: Tim Burton,David Cronenberg,F.W. Mernau, Dario Argento,Jan Svankmajer,Peter Jackson,Sam Raimi,& the great Hammerproductions/filmaking styles. I rank this up there with THE RING,EVILDEAD TRAP, & VERSUS as some of the FINEST HORROR I have seen in a while! Look out also for:The Hypnotist,Cure,Chaos,Ichi-The Killer,etc. This is available on e-bay, or just search google!