User reviews

If you are going to see this film I highly recommend seeing this movie in the original Japanese with subtitles if at all possible. The movie is an enjoyable experience, almost ruined by one of the most inept dubbing jobs I have ever experienced. Its just that the voices chosen were almost an insult to the original actors. The plot line is intriguing, although I have seen similar before. There is a cheap/campy quality to the special effects, but I rather enjoyed them despite this. The monsters were very creepy but somehow human at the same time, which was one of the more likable qualities of the film. It seems like the crew had a lot of heart and soul invested in the movie but very little budget. Fortunately, the heart and soul won out. I was especially impressed by the lead character's appearance; it's now one of my favorite werewolves(Dog Soldiers being my favorite). The fight scenes were also very over the top, reminiscent of the Lone Wolf and Cub series, but then again I love those films. The entire point of the film is that humans can be more monstrous than the monsters, and it drives the point home well, but a little heavy handed.

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!

I'm not sure what my wife expected when she rented "Kibakichi," but it surely wasn't this odd mix of kung fu, spaghetti western and horror. The film was suspenseful and kept our interest throughout. We weren't distracted by dubbing or special effects. Japanese monsters aren't necessarily supposed to be realistic, and we're used to Asian films where the words don't always match the speaker's mouth movements.

The biggest problem I had with the film is the lack of sympathetic characters, including the titular hero. I simply couldn't find anyone to root for. The scriptwriters plainly want the viewer to feel sorry for the Yokai, Japanese mythological monsters. They display commendable family values and have formed a warm, supportive community among themselves. Humans in the film are depicted as cunning, ruthless murderers. Which might have been convincing but for gruesome scenes showing what happens to the monsters' human guests, who are innocent passers-by for all we know. It just doesn't wash.

My wife picked this one out because she was tired of Godzilla flicks and didn't want another Japanese monster movie. Boy, was she fooled!

You read the summary? Yes? Then there is no need to say anything else about this movie.You got to see it yourself to believe how bad it is.

The story is a idiotic piece of sh*t with an absolutely silly message. The acting is wooden as hell. The creatures are as frightening as the Muppet's and the action is lame. The make-up department doesn't even reach work seen in Star Trek: Next Genration. The Crew doesn't seem to be very skilled at all. Uwe Boll is a directing genius in comparison to Tomoo Haraguchi. But I have to admit that the editing work is acceptable.

This picture isn't even worth to be called trash. It's just a big waste of time.

Directed by Tomoo Haraguchi "Kibakichi" is an entertaining piece of samurai goodness. Using a traditional Kurosawaesque plot, throwing some fantasy/horror elements, some decent amount of gore and you get 90 minutes of exploitation cinema with a moral. Fun stuff.

Samurai werewolf Kibakichi wonders into an old town populated by Yokai (Japanese demons) and aids them against the treacherous humans trying to destroy them. And there you have it, the plot in one sentence. Of course there's more to it, as first Kibakichi questions the morality of the Yokai(they eat humans). Must deal with some personal issues in a subplot that is left unresolved. Must be moved by the Yokai's peaceful ways (sort of) and the bond they share. Must decide to leave town. Must hear the evil human traitors arrive in town with their samurai and machine guns. Must go slaughter humans in full kill mode.

It's a fun film, a remainder of the 70s and 80s chambara flicks, where gore and fantasy elements mingled together creating some ludicrously fun action scenes. Choreography and sword play are decent enough and Haraguchi shot those scenes well enough. The gore is cheesy, blood fountains are cool, but it's the creature design that really shines. Reminiscent of the old monster movies, they are what sets Kibakichi apart and are really enjoyable in a B-movie kinda way. And did I mention machine guns? Yes I think I did, but for those of you not listening, there are machine guns here, more like mini-guns to be precise and that is so cool.

We can talk about acting, but that's not really a point in these kind of films. Yes you get this kind of in your face melodrama, but it's not all too unbearable plus the film isn't really marketed as an emotional experience. Otherwise the acting was fairly decent meaning it doesn't get all too annoying.

Although in it's core "Kibakichi" is a cheesy samurai/monster film, it does tackle the issue of racism well enough. Specifically racism in Japanese society which, let's face it, even today is obviously present with foreigners and Japanese of mixed blood living in Japan don't get always get equal treatment.

If you're in the mood for a high powered, kick ass, samurai exploitation flick, then Kibakichi is a good recommendation. Tomoo Haraguchi did well with this film, here's hoping the sequel is as good as this one

I found this movie pretty cool! Indeed the effects aren't like in the matrix, but hey, we don't all have millions to spend on effects.

The plot is simple: Kibakishi is a samurai/werewolf who wanders around. And some day arrives in a village that is different from others and starts playing a good game of dice at the "casino". The story takes place in Japan of course, (I don't know the time it takes place, but ballistic guns are a new concept, so maybe in the 1900s, about the same time as in the movie The Last samurai).

So like I said the effects aren't hardcore, but they are well done, and the blood spilling effects make you think of Kill Bill, haha. The actors are marvelous, they really help you immerse in this fantastic world. Even though the movies isn't as appealing as a Hollywood big cash blockbuster, it was quite entertaining and the way the story is brought in and presented is worth the while.

Kibakichi is a werewolf/samurai who has left his destroyed village and ventured into a dangerous village filled creatures, danger and secrets...

"A long time ago human and monsters named yokai lived in perfect harmony... but as time went by humans forgot their fears.. and in the fourth year...the government assembled a team to exterminate the yokai.. the weakened yokai escaped, deep into the mountains to escape contact with the human world.. some disguised themselves as women and men to hide.."

From the very beginning of this movie you will get a sense of its low budget, and mediocre acting. But for the anime fan, you will almost immediately feel like this is a movie that would be incredible as an anime.. in the first scene you encounter a pretty cheesy fight scene...but the shot of the grass fields and the blood dripping from Kibakichi's sword screamed an anime shot to me!

There are plenty more moments in this movie where you will find yourself wanting to giggle at the cheesy shots... But as the movie goes along, I couldn't help but find myself strangely attracted to it. There are some beautiful shots in this film, and an entertaining plot. I found the storyline very unique, and the characters intriguing. It was a fun ride from beginning to end for anyone with a taste for indy-anime-Japanese film lovers.

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.

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

Kibakichi is one of those movies they screen at Mifnight at those small family own cinemas or on cable TV. If you go watch it with that mindset it is not a bad movie. But if you are into plot, character driven movies with great acting and plot, skip this movie.

The movie is OK, not bad but abit slow until the end. The acting is B grade, the monsters are rubber costumes. The fights scenes are not bad, the end was rather good. It takes a lot of athleticism to fight and run and jump in the rubber costumes with explosions going off. (if that sounds good to you then this movie is for you!).

While I wont say its a great or even a good movie, it has interested me enough to go look for Kibakichi 2.

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).

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.