Filmmaker Mario Cerrito III had no plans for the silver screen at first. Originally from Salem County, Cerrito attended Rowan College at Burlington County in 2003 to play baseball and study criminal justice. It was after graduation when he entered construction that he found himself unhappy and picked up screenwriting instead.
With no connections, it took Cerrito a while to make his first two horror/thriller flicks. When he finally made Deadly Gamble (2015) and The Listing (2017), he found the audience for these films scarce, and the financial return left much to be desired. Cerrito knew he had to take a step forward in the horror genre to get more out of his films. It was time to do something crazy. But what?
One night, Cerrito was enjoying dinner with his wife and brother-in-law at a hibachi restaurant, where the chef cooks your meal right in front of you on a large grill in a showy manner. Having a good time, Cerrito joked around and asked: “What if they like, shut the doors on us? What if they chopped us up and served us to people?”
It sounds like a morbid question, but for Cerrito, it was a pitch that would cement his spot as a master in the indie horror film scene. Thus, in 2020, after signing with the longest-running independent film studio in the world, Troma Entertainment, and years of production, the cult-classic Human Hibachi was released.
While only the first movie has a hibachi restaurant setting, each iteration of the Human Hibachi franchise’s sole focus is on gore: death, bodily organs, and blood. It comes with the concept he made up in the restaurant that one night. What’s more, the movies don’t just show the chopping and serving; they show the eating, too.
As expected, the films have received their fair share of controversy. But that’s also where the audience lies.
“It’s very polarizing,” Cerrito remarked. “You’re gonna have people that hate it, and you’re gonna have people love it. But that actually works in your faith, because in order to get a cult following, which is every filmmaker’s dream, you gotta have haters. When you get haters, they talk about it, and then for every five haters, you're gonna find one person that loves it. You need both sides.”
The first movie's popularity has spawned a sequel (2022), a short film (2023), and a third movie in production. Each release so far has won awards, including the top prize at the NJ Horror Con and Film Festival in Atlantic City in 2021, 2022, and 2023. All around the world, including Japan and Australia, you can find the movie to purchase in video stores.
The highly anticipated third installment, Human Hibachi 3: The Last Supper, began filming this year in February. This time, Cerrito got some help from his alma mater on set. RCBC Entertainment Technology students Zach Opal and Eli Booth helped Cerrito and his crew with the production of the film.
“It was cool because they came in eager, willing to do anything,” Cerrito said. “The fields are a lot different than what you learn in books, so it was really neat that it was their first experience.”
Shot at a house with a cast of 20 actors, ten crew members, hundreds of props and gallons of fake blood, the movie needed workers like Opal and Booth to help out. They pitched in for everything from script supervising to handling the clapboard (a device used in filmmaking to help sync picture and sound and designate scenes).
“Working as a production assistant on the set of Human Hibachi was an opportunity of a lifetime,” Booth said. “I was able to learn invaluable lessons that I take with me on and off set. There was a great deal of information I had gathered, including being able to learn about how movies are shot, information about various equipment used on set and much more. However, the thing that I learned that I deem the most significant was to never be afraid to step outside your comfort zone, as that is where true growth happens.”
The films may have become big in production and profit, but Cerrito will always remember how hard it was to get his first film off the ground. So for Opal and Booth, the time on set gives them a boost Cerrito knows he would’ve cherished over a decade ago.
“I didn't have any connections at first, and I wanted to give back to the students who don’t have connections or are looking to get into the business. I told them, ‘Feel free to put my number. ’ That’s kind of the idea about having guys that volunteer their time, to give them that back in return.”
The first Human Hibachi is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime, while the sequel and short film, Human Hibachi 2: Feast in the Forest, and Human Hibachi: The Beginning, can be seen on Troma Entertainment’s streaming service, Troma NOW!
