This film follows Kakihara, a sadomasochistic yakuza whose boss goes missing. He sets out on a path of kidnapping and torture to find the man who did this, only to find out that the culprit, Ichi, is a complete sadistic psychopath. Chaos and gore ensue.

This movie is a lot better than I remember, and I remember loving it. The opening sequence hooks you immediately, with sped up camera movements and manga like color grading at times. This reveals to the viewer that what you’re about to watch isn’t a typical action/horror film. This movie does have its problems, as it has laughably bad CGI at times, but if you can get past those three or four shots you can enjoy this movie. My other issue with the film is the treatment of the women on screen. It’s absolutely devastating, depraved, and nausea inducing. To be fair, mostly everyone dies in this movie and whether you’re a woman or not in this world, you’re gonna get tortured. So I guess it’s kinda fair in the end.

At first glance it’s very much torture porn, but there’s a real story there that provokes humanity’s most suppressed subconscious emotions. Ichi the Killer exemplifies the unpredictability of human perseverance and the utmost underbelly of society.

This movie does not beg you to sympathize or revel in its grotesqueness. It wants you to be uncomfortable, it does not want you to like these characters at all. I love cinema that makes me squirm. I would be remiss not to mention that the costumes are divine, especially our main man Kakihara’s fly suits. The iridescent one he wears in his final scene is stunning. 

I really do love this movie, it can be extremely tough to watch at some particularly gory times, but it’s great if you can stomach it. Just don’t try to eat dinner while you watch it. 

8/10