Film critic and director Haruo Mizuno dies at 76

by Chris MaGee

Critic and director Haruo Mizuno, best known for the "Siberian Express" series of films passed away Tuesday at a Tokyo Hospital, the cause of death listed as liver failure. He was 76-years-old.

Born in Okayama in 1932 he was raised in Japanese occupied Manchuria. Returning to Japan to attend university he went on to work for 20th Century Fox and then Nihon Unite Eiga as a PR agent.

In 1972 Mizuno became an on air film critic for the NTV program "Kinyo Road Show", a position that he held until 1997.

In 1996 he decided that he had seen enough movies to make one of his own and subsequently directed "Siberian Express", an homage to the thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock, which spawned four sequels. Currently "Siberian Express" is being adapted into a feature length anime by famed animation studio Madhouse and director Takashi Shimizu (Ju-On).

Thanks to Tokyograph for the report.