Reader Recommendations: Ichi the Killer

One of Jim's wonderful friends recommended we watch: Ichi the Killer. To my knowledge Jim has already seen this film and wanted me to watch it, so I did and not knowing anything about this film before putting it in my PS3, I was real anxious expecting a movie that feels like a psychotic thriller. Oh boy was I wrong, I mean so damn wrong, it was a psychotic thriller, but it was way more than just that. The things I saw in this movie was ... well I don't want to give it away here. Read what it was after the jump.

Not really sure what I can and cannot say about this movie. But I forewarn you now, this is not going to be a PG article, so if you want a family friendly article. Skip this.

Three words to best describe this movie: WHAT THE FUCK. Not even lying, I honestly am scratching my head and kind of wondering what I just saw. Not to say this movie was bad or I couldn't follow along, just the scenes of brutally raping/beating girls, people getting sliced alive like deli meat and the odd scenes of some kind of white liquid dripping after a murder. It made me wonder a bit on what I just saw. This movie was like the BME Pain Olympics (if you haven't seen this, don't google it) and a whole lot of Japanese porn wrapped into one cute package, with a bow on top made out of human intestines.

Let me tell you about the story of this movie. It starts off with a Yakuza boss, Anjo, who has disappeared with tons of money, this is where his right hand man, Kakihara (who is the one in the movie poster) is determined to find him. Even though most of the Yakuza gang members believe Anjo is dead, Kakihara believes he is alive and needs to find him. This is where a snitch by the name of Jiji tells Kakihara that another gang member was the guilty one. Kakihara tortures him (this was the most tamed part of the movie) to find the answers but is later informed that Kiji lied to him and that the real killer is Ichi. This movie turns into a cat and mouse game with Kakihara looking for Ichi and Ichi killing off members of the Japanese mafia because Kiji tells him to. Kiji persuades Ichi by telling him that the Yakuza mafia members are 'bullies' and Ichi is filled with suppressed rage because of bullies that kicked his scrawny ass during high school.

Ichi in his super hero outfit.

Ichi is so fucked up in the head, he makes Kakihara seem almost normal. Oh by the way Kakihara has slits in his cheeks and staples the corners of his mouth so those slits don't open anytime, just when he needs to. And yes, he does take the staples to widen his mouth to literally eat a knuckle sandwich and gnaw off the punchers hand to the bone. Kakihara is a masochist, he loves the feeling of pain and will not interrupt anyone from himself getting a beat down. Similarly like Kakihara, Ichi is turned on by pain, but not pain to himself, pain he inflicts on others. This stems from his enjoyment of watching a school girl get raped during high school. He also goes to love hotels and asks for the hooker that has a swollen face. This hooker was beaten and rapped by her pimp and when Ichi watches this happen, the next scene is with a plant with white liquid dripping off its leaf. Yeah, it's one of these kinds of movies.

Overall, I liked this movie. I mean some of the special effects of humans being split into two was kind of cheesy, but not like I haven't seen anything worse (*cough* Mega Shark ). The acting was pretty good, you really see how sick and f-ed up these people are. And as a thriller it did do a good job, I mean there were points of this movie I was holding on to the edge of my seat thinking what was going to happen next. But again, I won't recommend this to anyone that isn't ready for this. But if you are into watching an extreme movie, way beyond the borders of the norm, go ahead watch this movie, it is basically a shock video with a plot.