Higuchinsky directs Eriko Hatsune, Fhi Fan, Hinako Saeki in the J-horror where the inhabitants of a small Japanese town become increasingly obsessed with and tormented by spirals.

I have enjoyed reading Jiro Ito’s pessimistic body horror mangas of late. Spiral is probably the most famous… starting small scale and seemingly trivial but ultimately becoming apocalyptic. This DV filmed movie adaptation captures the earlier eerie moments well. It feels a little softened at times, just hinting at that oppressive wider picture and the gory fatalism of the source material. It is often filmed in unnerving close-up POV shots giving the whole endeavour the feel of a 90s Tango advert gone rogue. Also the director loves shooting teenage girls legs. Bruv, can’t help himself!

6

Perfect Double Bill: Pulse (2001)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/ and my own Substack https://substack.com/@edinburghlaughterbulletin