From Romance to Horror: Why Audition Still Haunts Us

By Justin D Williams

Takashi Miike’s Audition (1999) is one of the most infamous horror films ever made—a movie that lures you in with a quiet love story before transforming into one of the most disturbing nightmares in cinema history. In this retrospective, we explore the film’s history, story, unforgettable performances, and why it remains so terrifying more than two decades later. From its slow-burn pacing to its shocking finale, Audition is more than just a horror movie it’s a meditation on loneliness, gender, power, and the dangers of denial.