Kakihara: “There’s no love in your violence.”

Another beautifully executed film from Takashi Miike. The film is about a psychotic yakuza enforcer searching for his missing boss and Ichi, another killer who stands in his way. The only Miike film I’ve seen previous to this is Gozu which made me an instant fan. Besides the style of film making, the two movies aren’t really worth comparing but I will say that I prefer Ichi simply for its more structured plot-line and easy to follow narrative.

Even with more structure this film doesn’t sacrifice anything in terms of depth. The main characters are all beautifully fleshed out and embody the films central themes surrounding self deprecation.

I argued for a while the other day with some neckbeard about what is and isn’t a horror, specifically in terms of thriller movies. The answer will always be that an argument can be made about any thriller that it can be a horror movie as well. A horror movie is any attempt to elicit a negative response by targeting our fears. Horror movies don’t always have to contain goblins and witches; there’s an endless amount of horror material in examining our psyche and all the fears associated with merely existing.

Don’t worry if you don’t agree with my definition because there’s no debate when it comes to Ichi the Killer, it’s an ultra-violent twisted tale with much more blood and gore than your average slasher movie.

8.5/10

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