Ichi the Killer. Japanese ultra violent masterpiece.

Ichi the Killer. One of my favorite movies of all time. When most people think of Japanese horror their minds usually jump to the likes of Ringu: The Ring or Ju-On: The Grudge. One name however that is met with big smiles from fans and shudders from everyone else is the work director Takashi Miike. With films like Audition and Visitor Q it isn`t hard to see why. Noone blends ultra violence and incredibly taboo themes with pitch black comedy quite like Mr. Miike. One of his best and most infamous works however, is the uniquely terrifying Manga adaptation Ichi the Killer.

Ichi the Killer is at its heart an incredibly twisted crime drama. It follows the story of a sadomasochistic Yakuza contact killer named Kakihara (the blonde man pictured above). Who is searching for his missing boss, all the while a disturbed young reluctant anti hero by the name of Ichi is being manipulated into wiping out Yakuza gang members left and right. There is much more to it but as usual I will refrain from diving too deep into the plot as you really need to see this for yourself.

Ichi himself is quite a disturbing character in his own right. He is constantly tormented by the memory of being bullied as a kid. And the one girl who stood up for him was violently gang raped in front of him. This did not have the effect on him you would expect however. As now, witnessing rape is his biggest pleasure in life, often spying on hookers as they are beaten by gangsters and pimps. This usually results in the death of said gangster as if he reacts to any and all confrontation by crying at first, but the moment he is pushed too far his instincts take over and before he even realizes whats happened, he has cut someone into hamburger with his razor heeled boots.

Despite all I said about Ichi himself. It is Kakihara who really steals the show. He is just so damn fascinating. His absolutely sadistic way of doing things and his unconditional love for giving and receiving pain is so disturbing you just can`t look away. He is loving every moment of it. Despite being an utterly depraved character, he is a very compelling and fun protagonist. You just never quite know what he will do one moment from the next. Oh chances are its going to hurt, but he is one creative guy. He will make it a sight to behold no matter what, weather he be mutilating others or himself.

The violence in this film is very unique, sure its gory, but it has a pungent stench of black comedy throughout. Despite this being an odd comparison, I remember thinking of A Clockwork Orange. At least in regards to how it depicts the darkest underbelly of the human society, but in s very colorful and flamboyant way that you can`t help but have fun with despite the horror of what you are witnessing. This, mixed with the bizarrely brilliant soundtrack and colorful visuals give Ichi the Killer an atmosphere all its own.

As stated earlier, Ichi the Killer is one of my all time favorite films and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves horror in general, or even just crime thriller fans will get a kick out of this too.. I`m sure you are all familiar with Japan`s ghost story type films (least I hope so they make far scarier supernatural films than Hollywood could ever dream). This on the other hand is the other side of J-Horror. The blood splattered taboo kind, and Ichi the Killer is a horror masterpiece.