Coming to digital platforms across Ireland and the UK this April 6th is Ghost Killer, a supernatural thriller about a girl who one day finds a bullet casing on the ground and is haunted by a dead hitman. Starring Akari Takaishi and Masanori Mimoto as the unlikely duo of Fumika and Kudo, Ghost Killer is an action-adventure that pulls you into its wild world immediately and doesn’t let go until the very end.
You still can’t beat me
What is immediately apparent is the quality of the fight choreography and stuntwork in Ghost Killer. It is fantastic, the whole team behind this film should be applauded for their work. This is easily my favourite part of the film. From the intense opening that showcases Kudo’s final moments to the outstanding final clash in the third act, the film is a stellar piece of technical work in terms of fight choreography and stunt work. A standout is Mimoto, who plays Kudo; he carries a lot of the fights with an energy that draws you in. Not to be outdone, though, is Takaishi’s Fumika.
Director Kensuke Sonomura easily could have had Mimoto swap places with Takaishi for every fight whenever they “body swap”, but he chose the more interesting route. Giving this seemingly helpless girl the power and experience of a seasoned hitman is a hard sell, but Taikaishi and the stunt team pull it off well. The film even acknowledges that Fumika doesn’t have the muscle mass to fully replicate Kudo’s abilities, so Kudo (in Fumika’s body) adapts. It’s excellent visual storytelling. On top of that, the soundscape of the fights is incredibly intense, with a clear enhancement of the audio, you can’t help but be pulled into each fight.
A Genuine Ghost
Ghost Killer’s narrative is also a lot of fun; the cast of characters just go with it when each of them discovers that Fumika is being haunted by a hitman. She has to convince them, of course, but it doesn’t take up unnecessary space in the film. This allows the film to get straight to the meat of the story: how does a college girl avenge a hitman so that he can move on to the afterlife?
Getting from A to B in this story is fun, as Fumika slowly figures out with Kudo where she needs to hit to make enough noise to find his killers. Fumika and Kudo have an excellent rapport, each frustrated with being in this particular situation with the other. Fumika is annoyed because this is disrupting her life, and Kudo is frustrated because he wishes he had someone more steadfast as his avenger. As the film progresses, though, Kudo does soften, and the two find a common ground. It’s quite sweet, actually.
I did find that there were narrative opportunities that were missed in the film; it didn’t go as far as I had hoped with the exploration of the afterlife and why Kudo haunts Fumika. There is an explanation of why she is chosen, but it feels poorly developed. Also, the final villain of the piece is simply a boss fight, a fantastic one, but one that had a lot of narrative potential, and sadly, it was wasted.
This aside though, Ghost Killer is an absolutely brilliant film that I highly recommend to fans of the action genre. With a lot of character and visual thrills, this is definitely something to check out when it releases on digital platforms on April 6th.
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