Mario Cerrito

Mario Cerrito
Cerrito in 2020
Born	Mario Cerrito III (1984-03-01) March 1, 1984 (age 41) South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Occupation(s)	Film director, producer
Years active	2012–present

Mario Cerrito III (born March 1, 1984) is an American filmmaker, writer, producer and actor most closely associated with the horror genre. ^[1] He is best known for his found footage cult film series Human Hibachi . The movies were released by Troma Entertainment and won best feature film awards at the New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival. Cerrito is recognized as having an unfiltered approach to horror. ^{[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]}

Early life

Mario was born in South Philadelphia and raised in Audubon, New Jersey. He is Italian American. ^[11] He lived in Woodstown, New Jersey, and graduated from Woodstown High School in 2002. ^[12] He played Division II baseball at Rowan College at Burlington County from 2003 to 2004. ^{[13] [14]}

Film production

2012–2016: Early work, Deadly Gamble and The Listing

Cerrito produced a short film titled The Cornfield Massacre in 2012. ^[15]

He went on to write, produce and direct his first feature film, Deadly Gamble, in 2013. The movie screened at the Delsea Drive in Theatre in Vineland, New Jersey. ^{[16] [17] [18]} It was made on a $10,000 budget and was signed to Gregory Hatanaka's distribution company Cinema Epoch. The film was released through national cable television outlets in 2015 as well as EPIX, Tubi and Amazon Prime Video. ^{[19] [20]}

Cerrito directed The Listing in 2015 with a $25,000 budget. It won best feature film at the 2019 HNN Film Festival. ^[21] The film features horror actress Jessica Cameron. The movie was represented at Marché du Film, the business counterpart to the Cannes Film Festival. The movie was acquired by distribution company SGL Entertainment. It was released in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States to Blu-ray, DVD, Amazon Prime, Google Play and iTunes. ^{[22] [23]} Bloody Disgusting wrote about the movie in 2017 and Dread Central in 2019. ^{[24] [25] [26] [27] [28]}

2018–2025: Human Hibachi series

Cerrito wrote, produced and directed Human Hibachi in (2018). Shot solely on an iPhone, the movie was initially deemed too extreme for a release to Amazon Prime and was released to its own website instead. ^{[29] [30]} At the New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival in 2021 it was nominated for Best FX and Best Feature film, winning the latter. The film was also an official selection of Philadelphia Independent Film Festival and signed to Troma Entertainment for release. ^{[31] [30]} The film was later acquired by distribution company Invincible Entertainment and released to various video on demand platforms in 2022. In August 2022 the DVD ranked in the top 100 best sellers on Amazon. ^{[32] [33]} Invincible Entertainment brought the movie to Marché du Film at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in France. ^[34] The film later was released to FOUND TV in November 2024. ^[35]

In the summer of 2021, Cerrito made the sequel Human Hibachi 2: Feast in The Forest . The movie was filmed in Mount Holly, New Jersey ^{[7] [36]} and premiered in July 2022 in Philadelphia. ^[37] It went on to win best feature film at New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival in Atlantic City. ^[38] Troma Entertainment picked the movie up for worldwide release. ^{[39] [40]} The film was later released to FOUND TV in November 2024. ^[41]

In 2023, Cerrito produced and directed the short film and third installment, Human Hibachi: The Beginning. The movie won best New Jersey/New York horror film at New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival. Troma Entertainment acquired it for release to Troma Now in October of the same year. ^{[42] [43] [44] [45] [46]}

Human Hibachi 3: The Last Supper the fourth installment was announced in August 2024 and is set to be produced in the winter of 2025. The film stars scream queen Debbie Rochon and Lloyd Kaufman. Production started in December 2024 at Troma Entertainment studios in New York City and continued throughout February 2025 in South Jersey. ^{[47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52] [53] [54]}

Other film work

Cerrito wrote and produced The House in the Pines featuring Mick Strawn as Director and Joe Nicolo from Butcher Bros. as composer. ^[55]

Cerrito provided the main film location for the horror film A Place in Hell. The film won best home grown horror feature film at the 2016 Garden State Film Festival. ^{[56] [57] [58]} The movie was released by Anchor Bay Entertainment to multiple Video On Demand platforms. ^[59]

He has also produced Variety (2015), Arisen I SAW (2016), The Philly Offensive (2016), Chase Street (2016), and Right Before Your Eyes (2017), among others. ^[60]

Cerrito made a short film called Wall Of Souls in 2024. ^[61]

Cerrito was listed in a top ten independent horror filmmaker list from Horrornews.net in 2024. ^[62]

Awards and nominations

Year	Event	Work	Category	Result
2019	Horror News Network Film Festival	The Listing	Best feature film (as director)	Won
2020	Philadelphia Independent Film Festival	Human Hibachi	Best feature film	Nominated
2021	New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival	Human Hibachi	Best film (as producer)	Won
2022	New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival	Human Hibachi 2: Feast in The Forest	Best director	Nominated
2022	New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival	Human Hibachi 2: Feast in The Forest	Best film (as producer)	Won
2023	New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival	Human Hibachi: The Beginning	Best New Jersey New York film	Won
2023	New Jersey Horror Con and Film Festival	Human Hibachi: The Beginning	Best director	Nominated

TV appearances

Cerrito and his family were featured on the Travel Channel's reality show Ghost Nation . Paranormal investigator Jason Hawes and his crew visited Cerrito's house and the program aired in October 2019. The episode was titled, "The Novelist's Nightmare." ^[63] He also had a minor role in the series Chase Street, which was featured on Amazon Prime. ^{[64] [65]}

Business ventures

Cerrito started a haunted attraction business called "Fear Village" in 2023 at the Voorhees Town Center in Voorhees Township, New Jersey. A fire occurred in the mall in April 2024 and stalled the plans to open. ^{[66] [67] [68] [69] [70] [71] [72]}

Books and other writing

Cerrito wrote a book in 2013 called "Chasin' Brandy: An Extraordinary Tale of Puppy Love." ^{[73] [74]}

In 2013 he co-wrote a screenplay called "Union City Streets" with Renoly Santiago. ^{[75] [76]}

Filmography

Film

Year	Film
		Director	Writer	Producer	Actor	Notes
2014	The Meatball	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Short film
2015	Deadly Gamble	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
2015	Arisen	No	No	Yes	No
2016	I SAW	No	No	Yes	No
2017	The Listing	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
2019	Right Before Your Eyes	No	No	Yes	No
2020	Human Hibachi	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
2022	Human Hibachi 2: Feast in The Forest	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
2023	Human Hibachi: The Beginning	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Short film
2024	Wall Of Souls	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Short film
2025	Human Hibachi 3: The Last Supper	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Post production

Television

Year	Title	As Self	Actor	Notes
2017	Chase Street	No	Yes	Season 1 Episode 3
2019	Ghost Nation	Yes	Yes	As self in Season 1 Episode 3 "The Novelist's Nightmare"

Personal life

Cerrito was invited to speak to the communication students about filmmaking at his alma mater Woodstown High School in 2014. ^[77]

In 2016, Cerrito visited a sick seven-year-old boy with mitochondrial disease at Nemours Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware. Cerrito gave the boy a signed poster of his movie. ^[78]

Cerrito teamed up with the school resource officer of Riverside High School in 2017 to film a PSA video titled #DrinkDriveDie for their students. The video showed the dangers of drinking and driving in dramatic fashion to help kids make better decisions. The film debuted at the school's prom assembly. ^{[79] [80]}

In 2019 while at the Borgata Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, Cerrito was at the scene of professional volleyball player Eric Zaun's death. ^{[81] [82] [83]}

He and his wife Charmaine have been residents of Mantua Township, New Jersey since c. 2015. ^{[84] [2]}

References

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