Synopsis:
When college student Fumika (Akari Takaishi) stumbles upon the bullet that ended hitman Kudo’s (Masanori Mimoto) life, his vengeful spirit takes hold of her body. Now possessed by a ruthless assassin’s rage and skills, she becomes an unstoppable force, hunting down those responsible for his death. As the body count rises, the line between Fumika and Kudo begins to blur. From the action director of Baby Assassins, One-Percent Warrior, and Bad City, GHOST KILLER delivers a furious tale of supernatural revenge.
What We Thought:
Ghost Killer is a very solid action-comedy out of Japan. There are some fantastic action sequences and it has great chemistry with its leads. I had fun with it and it will be a movie I revisit.
Akari Takaishi (from the Baby Assassins franchise) stars as a college student who becomes possessed with the spirit of a dead hitman after she trips and picks up the shell casing of the round that murdered him. The only way to exorcise his grudge is to figure out who killed him. The organization that employed him changed bosses and the son of the dead boss is running things with reckless abandon. Takaishi’s Fumika and the hitman Kudo must figure out what happened to him and get his revenge.
Why the film works is because of the cast. Takaishi handles her side of the action very well. I’ve seen at least two of the Baby Assassins films so I was familiar with her work. Masanori Mimoto plays the hitman Kudo and I’ve seen him in Baby Assassins and Enter the Fat Dragon. There are times she’s the one handling her body and the action sequences are very good with her doing them. There are times he’s in command and his fight sequences are great too. Their chemistry in the fighting is matched with the awkward yet comedic elements of him possessing her. I’d watch more films with them together.
Then there’s the third act fight sequence. When Kudo discovers his killer and what he needs to do, he teams up with another hitman and the onslaught ensues. There is great gun work, hand-to-hand fighting and strong stunt visuals. The third act action set piece would rival anything 87North is doing. Action fans, especially Asian action fans will eat it up.
Ghost Killer was a nice surprise. Because of its title I was expecting something more supernatural, but it’s not bogged down by it. The possession adds to the comedy and provides great action elements cutting back and forth between the pair. If you like the Baby Assassins franchise you’ll dig it too.
The Nerds Templar 