"A Japanese horror movie and dark comedy about a small town becoming obsessed with everything spiral-like and merging into a supernatural vortex. People kill themselves by climbing into a spin-dryer, getting run over by wheels, twisting into circular forms, turning into snails, etc.. The mood and effects are bizarre but at the same time infused with MTV-style 'coolness' and altogether don't add up to anything."

I'd really like to see someone try a movie adaptation of this again, perhaps with a very high budget, and especially now that the full comic is released. When the movie was made, only 1/3 of the story was finished, so they had to just sort of make up an ending, and the shoehorning really shows. A lot of the later parts of the comic got really goofy, but there was also some really badass, unique imagery. This movie somehow had less of a gritty realistic feel though, at least in my opinion.

......lol. Had to split it into two viewings to get through it

I wouldn't be able to describe this film in any meaningful way to anyone, but it is visually engaging. It has terrified me of spirals.

Might be brilliant. I have no frame of reference with the manga, but I can understand why fans might be mad: the film knows its story is kooky at least and at worst, terrible. So it hams it. Its self-referential & irreverent take on its source has loads of formal experimentation (like its soul sister, HAUSU), playing into its genre while sending it up, and having a blast doing it. And don't go looking for resolution or explanation. I don't think that's the point.

Parts 1 and 2 were great. Part 3 was dumb, and part 4 was a complete cop out. Even so, the good half of this movie was pretty good, and so carries the rest of the movie, score-wise. If you like this movie, the manga is even better. :)

Bizarre, somewhat enjoyable. Some of it's genuinely creepy, too.

Yep, it's another Japanese mid-budget horrorflick. A bit scary, a bit funny. Great entertainment.

Lots of wind-up, but no real pitch.

Truly strange horror picture, it's imagery completely unforgettable at every moment.

Although the overall creepiness was well-done, the fact that there is absolutely no resolution to the whole mystery voids anything good about the film. This was merely an exercise in translating some (much better executed) scenes from the manga into film. It will confuse newcomers, and just anger the fans of the manga.

It's okay. I thought it did a fairly good job of adapting the manga from a serial format into a single storyline fairly well, but the creepiest imagery of the comic just becomes goofy special effects here.

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A Bizarre and real good Japanese mystery thriller. those spirals are wicked. Nice to watch