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Film Critic, Siberian Express Director Mizuno Dies

Haruo Mizuno, a Japanese film critic who became a respected screenwriter and director in his own right, passed away due to liver failure in a Tokyo hospital on Tuesday. He was 76. Mizuno first became famous for his reviews and television commentaries on movies. He hosted Nippon Television's Friday Roadshow movie broadcasts about 1,200 times between 1972 and 1997. In 1995, he became a filmmaker himself by writing and directing Siberian Express (pictured at right), the first of five mystery films in the vein of Alfred Hitchcock's thrillers. The Madhouse studio (NANA, Death Note) is adapting the popular Siberian Express film series into anime with The Grudge director Takashi Shimizu in an unspecified role.

Source: Mainichi Shimbun