Kibakichi: Bakko-yokaiden

I bought the DVD of Kibakichi, used from Blockbuster, simply on a whim. My friends and I were sifting through the racks when the unusual title caught my eye. As soon as I read the summary on the backcover I had to get it! Werewolf samurai? Demonic geishas? Come on, this had to be the most unique film ever created!

This film will definitely not appeal to everybody. I'm a hardcore fan of both samurai flicks and anime, so it probably appealed to me more than most people. The atmosphere of this film is perfect for the mysterious setting (the weather is almost always dark, overcast, and windy). Acting is subdued (you won't find William Shatner here), but strong and suitable for the type of characters involved. The special effects are laughably low-budget, which adds a nice, campy feel to the whole production. One can forgive the shoddy sfx, however, because they supply the only real laughs in the movie. The final battle scene alone is worth the money of buying or renting it. I guarantee that it is something that you have never seen before and never will again. Strangely enough, the werewolf samurai only transforms once, and not during a full-moon either. Only when he is unable to keep his emotions under control.

The bottom line is that this is a very cool, very interesting film that very few people on this side of the Pacific will see. If you like samurai flicks, the fantasy genre, Japanese period films, the supernatural, or are just feeling adventurous, check this one out. Even if you normally watch only conventional Hollywood fare you should give this a go. It'll give you something new to think about (or at least some pretty freakish dreams).

Kibakichi is a self-titled movie about it's main character, a samurai/werewolf type. The werewolf things, I believe are called Yokai. The Yokai are at war with the humans, who have driven them away from themselves. In a nutshell, that is the movie. The humans and Yokai fighting against each other until one side wins. Not much of a plot.

The movie had an old kung fu style feel to it, kind of like watching Kung Fu Theatre back in the 80's. The best scene in the movie was most likely the first one, where Kibakichi (Ryuuji Harada) fights off a horde of attackers. The movie was all right until the talking began. Whoever was responsible for casting the dubbed voices should be flogged. It was as if the guy from Kung Pow was in charge, or just as easily Matt Stone and Trey Parker. It was hard to take any of these characters seriously, including Kibakichi, himself.

Although there were some semi-cool scenes here, there is not much in favor of making it worth your movie, even for a rental (online or otherwise). Honestly, it really is just not worth it. 3/10

This movie is awesome. yes the special fx are cheap and the monsters horrid but the movie has a good sense of fun and actually a great premise. Kibakichi is a lone samurai who is also a werewolf and roams the countryside. He stops in a small town ruled by Yokai (monsters). The leader has made a pact with the yakuza with promises of a new beginning for the yokai. As Kibakichi unearths a deadly plot to rid the Yokai, his inner beast is unleashed and the finale is one bloody showdown. With guns, swords, blood and gore, this movie delivers. Yes it's slow but the performances are awesome and at 95 minutes moves quickly. I got this for 5 bucks and it's sequel.

Enjoy the movie for what it is a fun action-horror film before Hollywood remakes it soon.

Where to end?

This movie is kinda woeful, you realise after about 10 mins that they had very little money indeed, what they had they seem to have saved by skimping on actors.

The Plot? That doesn't matter in the least. The effects? Very poor. The editing? Not too bad actually and the look of the film is half decent.

But none of that's important, none of it, what is important is the dubbed version.

Its simply beautiful. Lip sinked by a blind man, scripted by an inbred and performed, by the sound of it, by a motley band of monkeys, castratoes and men who have had all trace of emotion removed from them.

High pitched comedy voices and cackling abound. Oh the cackling, must be the only film in history to have its own cackling department. Any old dialogue that sort of fits is used, followed by half a second of their mouths still moving. That's when they don't simply fill the gap with cackling. You may have noted there's a lot of cackling in this movie (to be truthful some of that cackling might be mu ha hah ing or even gaffawing, only the experts from the cackling department would be able to tell us).

I suppose the plot should be given a mention. Werewolf samurai, fights monsters, some of those monsters are human. With the usual mix of clans missions etc, it does have spider whores, which can only be a good thing. It moves briskly enough and has enough oddness to entertain.

Perfect for a booze and pizza night.

The Japanese had already tackled King Kong, Frankenstein and Dracula in the past…so it was only a matter of time before an Asian Werewolf movie came along! I had never heard of the film before chancing upon it at the local DVD rental outlet, but the prospect of a Werewolf Samurai seemed too unique to pass by.

Actually, what little monster action there is, is restricted to the opening and climactic sequences but they are both busy, well-staged fights that satiate one's expectation of what a Samurai film should provide. The rest of it is a muddled and rather dreary narrative about the Yokai (monster people) being ousted by the deceitful humans once and for all, with our hero eventually getting engaged by the leader of the former as one of his henchmen. Again, the opportunity for creative make-up design is not taken to the fullest and falls far short of other foreign 'monster parade' shows like, say, the Russian VIY, OR SPIRIT OF EVIL (1967).

What the film does get utterly right is its faithful recreation of the Samurai era which admirably make the film look, sound and feel like something from the early 1960s! The hero is a taciturn loner with long, shaggy hair who gets to interact (but, thankfully, not get romantically involved) with a human girl adopted by the Yokai leader long ago. Apparently, the film proved successful enough on its home ground to be followed by a sequel that very same year!