A moody, low-key indie about isolation and obsession, Spiral marks a reunion of star and co-writer Joel David Moore and co-director Adam Green, whose previous effort was the spastic slasher tribute Hatchet. Moore is very effective as Mason, a withdrawn loner whose penchant for painting portraits of women may hint at a darker secret. An outcast at his dreary day job, he finds a sympathetic friend in a new co-worker (Amber Tamblyn), but Mason's peculiarities soon leave their mark on the relationship. As subdued and thoughtful as Hatchet was crass and loud, Spiral succeeds at creating an unsettling atmosphere (aided in no small part by the ceaseless gloom of its Seattle locations), and if the twist ending isn't terribly surprising, the picture as a whole is an admirable attempt at a thriller driven by psychology rather than pure terror. --Paul Gaita