★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Intensity 🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Directed by Kensuke Sonomura
Possession by a vengeful ghost! Top-notch martial arts and gunplay action! Some humor for good measure! This Japanese feature has it all, and genre-film fans should have a blast with it!
Official 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.
I’ve been a big fan of Akari Takaishi since seeing her in the first two installments of the fantastic Baby Assassins comedy/action movie series — a third installment is receiving a wide release in the States on August 26 from Well Go USA, but I digress. With Ghost Killer (Japan, 2025), she reunites with Baby Assassins franchise writer/director Yugo Sakamoto and the series’ action director Kensuke Sonomura, who helms this feature. The result is a rollicking good time though the film definitely has its darker, pensive moments, as well.
If the premise of “hitman ghost possesses college girl” sounds overly simple, do not let that fool you. Sakamoto delivers on giving both of those characters plenty of arc and development, and the plot is filled with intrigue and surprises. The action set pieces are obviously a high point of Ghost Killer, but Sakamoto and Sonomura both well know that story and character are highly vital.
Takaishi is phenomenal as a university student with a part-time job and dreams of a future who initially wants no part of being possessed by hitman Kudo’s revenge-seeking spirit. But when criminals start to make things personal for her, the tension and action rise higher than they already were. Takaishi’s facial expressions, emotive acting, action choreography skills, and comic timing are among the best you’ll see in cinema today, in my opinion. She learned well in the Baby Assassins franchise and delivers the goods here. Masanori Mimoto (Baby Assassins, Death Note, Alien vs. Ninja) as Kudo also delivers in the acting chops and butt-kicking choreography departments, and he and Takaishi have terrific chemistry together. The supporting players all turn in solid work, as well, headed up by Mario Kuroba as Toshihisa Kagehara, Kudo’s protégé with a bad attitude.
Sonomura serves as both director and action director on Ghost Killer, and he excels in both roles, as he is already established as one of the absolute top action directors working today. Just wait until you get a load of the action sequences! Sakamoto knows well how to write a screenplay that keeps viewers engaged and astonished, putting both them and his characters through a roller coaster of emotions.
Ghost Killer balances the supernatural and the skirmishes winningly. It’s one of the most exciting genre mash-ups I have seen so far this year, and it has secured a spot in my top 10 favorite films of 2025.
Review by Joseph Perry
Ghost Killer screened as part of Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, which ran from July 3–13, 2025 in Bucheon, South Korea.
Ghost Killer debuts on Digital July 22 and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on September 23, 2025 from Well Go USA.
