What would happen if you took Toshiro Mifune’s Yojimbo, crossed him with Lon Chaney Jr’s Wolf Man, and put him in a small, Japanese village filled with flesh-eating demons and women who transform into giant spiders? You'd get Kibakichi, a strange and very enjoyable film directed by Tomoo Haraguchi.
The movie is prefaced with a quick back story about the Yokai, a race of monstrous spirits that live among the humans. The humans begin to lose their fear of these spirits and they start slaughtering them, forcing the Yokai to go into hiding disguised as humans. Flash forward to our anti-hero Kibakichi, a lone swordsman with an unknown past travelling the countryside. He also happens to be a werewolf. He arrives at a strange town inhabited by his supernatural kinsmen. The yokai have an agreement with the local yakuza clan: kill the yakuza’s enemies and they will be provided with a safe a peaceful place to live free of scrutiny. However, the yakuza have other plans for the yokai after they acquire a secret weapon.
There is some excellent action here, especially in the opening scene. Kibakichi would rival Ryunosuke Tsukue of Sword of Doom in fighting ability. There is also plenty of ridiculous spurting blood that makes for a great, fun movie. The depiction of some of the Yokai is really well done. There are three scenes in particular that stand out. A group of geisha women transform themselves into spiders to kill some unsuspecting casino patrons. Also, another gambler is pushed into a skeleton-filled room and is attacked by flying skeleton monsters, a scene that tip-toes on the edge of actually being scary. And, of course, the most memorable yokai in the whole movie are the Kopa, small river creatures that look like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle rejects. The first half of the film primarily deals with character development and actually does a pretty good job with it. We get a look into Kibakichi’s past and get to know the townspeople well enough that you feel sympathy for their plight. The last half hour or so is just so ludicrous in terms of action; I found myself shaking my head and laughing quite a bit. This movie rivals some serious 80s action flicks with the amount of slow motion explosions it has. I would say the movie is worth watching just for the final action sequence alone.
I hate to nitpick on a film like this, because it is the kind of film that you should just sit back and enjoy. There is definitely no analysis involved. But there were a few things that I found somewhat annoying. First are the villains, who are inexplicably dressed like Neo in The Matrix. Their ace in the hole is the acquisition of some serious firepower, including grenades and some guns that I never knew existed. Based on the time period of the film, I doubt that these kinds of weapons would be available to them (yes, the irony of critiquing the historical accuracy of a film that focuses on demons is not lost on me). Not only that, I think the inclusion of the guns deprives us from more awesome sword fights which would make the film much better. My other gripe is with the depiction of the monsters. I imagined they would have fantastical superpowers that would make them a formidable force against any enemy. However, the yakuza totally make them their bitches. You’d think these huge monsters would have a fighting chance against puny humans. Oh, and they also put a sound effect behind EVERYTHING, including people chewing or drinking, which is very Mighty Morphin Power Rangers-esque. I was not distracted by it as I felt it added a lot to the overall cheese factor of the movie, but I can see it annoying some people.
I can’t hold any of these issues against the movie because it is incredibly fun to watch. If you like movies that are full of cheese and sweet action, then this is definitely for you. I’d give it a solid 4 out 5 stars.
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