Mari Asato facts for kids

Mari Asato (安里 麻里, Asato Mari, born on March 14, 1976) is a Japanese film director. She is well-known for directing horror films.

Some of her famous films include Ju-On: Black Ghost (2009), which is part of The Grudge movie series. She also directed Samurai Chicks (Dokuritsu Shôjo Gurentai) (2004), Boy From ... (2004), Twilight Syndrome: Dead Go Round (2008), Ring of Curse (2011), Bilocation (2012), and Fatal Frame (2014).

Mari Asato's Early Career

Mari Asato started her journey in filmmaking as a photographer. She learned from famous director Kiyoshi Kurosawa while working on his film Barren Illusions in 1999. Later, she became an assistant director for Hiroshi Takahashi on the movie ... the Killer (2004).

After these experiences, Mari Asato began directing her own films. Many of her early works were additions to popular horror movie series. Since 2011, she has been very active, releasing many sequels and feature films.

Notable Films by Mari Asato

Ring of Curse (2011)

This film is also known as Gomennasai, which means "I'm sorry" in Japanese. Ring of Curse is based on a popular mobile phone novel by Yuka Hidaka. The movie is structured like the book, telling its story through chapters that feel like diary entries.

Bilocation (2012)

Bilocation was Mari Asato's second major film. It came out in 2012 and is based on a novel by Hojo Haruka that won an award in 2010 for best Japanese horror novel. This film is special because it had a team and cast that were almost all women.

The movie explores the idea of "bilocation," which means being in two places at the same time. It stars Asami Mizukawa, a well-known actress in Japanese horror films. The story includes many hidden connections to ideas about doppelgängers (people who look exactly like someone else) and even religious stories.

Fatal Frame (2014)

Also known as Gekijoban Zero, Fatal Frame is a dark horror film. It creates a very spooky atmosphere, similar to the original Fatal Frame video game series, also known as Project Zero for PlayStation 2. This style of horror is very popular in Japan.

The film is also an adaptation of a novel by Eiji Otsuka called Fatal Frame: A Curse Affecting Only Girls. Mari Asato used the detailed descriptions from the book to create strong visual effects that add to the horror.

The movie is set in an all-girls high school. It often refers to John Everett Millais's famous painting Ophelia. This painting shows Shakespeare's character Ophelia from his play Hamlet drowning. Mari Asato's films often show a similar eerie beauty, creating what some call an 'Ophelia' world in rural Japan.

Mari Asato's Filmography

• Jigoku Kozō (2004)
• Dokuritsu Shôjo Gurentai (2004)
• Twilight Syndrome: Dead Go Round (2008)
• Ju-on: Black Ghost (2009)
• Gomennasai (2011)
• Bilocation (2014)
• Gekijōban Zero (2014)
• Hyouka (2017)
• Under Your Bed (2019)

See Also

• List of female film and television directors