Asami from Audition: The Twisted, Evil Sadist Who Enthralled Horror Fans Everywhere — A review of Takashi Miike’s Film and Ryu Murakami’s Book

When I started reading Ryu Murakami’s novel Audition (1999), I was prepared for a book chock-full of scenes of depraved torture and satisfying sadism. I’d seen the movie first. Directed by Takashi Miike, it was visually stunning sadism as art. However disturbing the torture scenes were, a viewer could not look away.

It, too, was a well-told story that brought you into the world of 1980’s Japan and transitioned from rom-com into horror halfway through. (The movie has such a reputation now that viewers know well what is to come, but the melodrama/comedy scenes are entertaining on their own merits.)

Watching the film first, then reading the book, you can see the creation in reverse order. In this case, the film seems to have expanded on the book, particularly in the ending.

Both the film and the book are influences on my work The Film Student, which a slow-burning tale of Kyoko, a sadistic university girl out to create an ultra-realistic horror film with her submissive boy toy exchange student Josh. I am writing and publishing the story in short story form on my substack, and you can read it all — including special 500–1,000 word editions — if you become a…