Kibakichi (2004)

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

The summary of Kibakichi: Bakko-yokaiden itself is enough to get me interested in this movie. I've seen plenty of movies, especially those made within the last year, generally normal-to-high budget movies, yet none of them have caught my interest like this one. The reasons why this movie is so horribly interesting, despite its obviously low budget are fairly obvious: First of all, you've got the fact that it's a monster movie where the humans--for the most part, Kikio is a different story entirely--are the villains; then you've got a werewolf-reminiscent samurai for a main character; among all this, which alone would get me watching the movie, no doubt, you've got demon geisha seducing and eating humans, and demons using gambling to draw in their source of food.The only thing that I suggest about this movie is that, above all else, you avoid the dubbing and watch it in its original format. You'll get a MUCH better movie if you do that.

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!

A Samurai is invited to stay in a gambling house run by monsters in disguise. Despite eating the occasional welcher, the monsters really aren't so bad. But wait a minute: Traveling cowboy... finds a home... things are gonna go wrong, right? Oh yeah. In a big way.The middle of this movie is pretty slow paced, but all that is made up for in the film's ending and beginning, which action fans have got to see to believe. The werewolf costumes are great and the swordplay is spot on.Don't believe the haters. This movie is great fun. And the dubbing isn't all that bad either (except for the one princess girl, who, I kid you not, *might* have been a man.) P.S. Kibakichi has one of the greatest theme songs I've ever heard. It's catchy, heroic and just plain awesome. If I were a samurai-ronin, you can bet I'd rip off Kibakichi's themesong for my own!

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.