action, Ayaka Higashino, Fantastic Fest, film festivals, Ghost Killer, Hidenobu Abera, Japan, Kensuke Sonomura, Mario Kuroba, Masanori Mimoto, movies, Naoto Kuratomi, reviews, Ryu Ichinose
September 5, 2025
by Carla Hay
Directed by Kensuke Sonomura
Japanese with subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place in Japan, the action film “Ghost Killer” features an all-Asian cast of characters representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A female college student becomes possessed by the ghost of a murdered assassin, who gives her fighting powers, and she becomes a vigilante who gets in revenge battles against bullies and the people responsible for the assassin’s murder.
Culture Audience: “Ghost Killer” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and wacky action movies that have supernatural themes.
“Ghost Killer” is an offbeat action film about a female college student possessed by the ghost of a vengeful assassin who was murdered. The movie’s story gets very one-note, but it’s mostly entertaining for anyone looking for unconventional ghost stories. The violence is expectedly over-the-top, but many of the stunts are well-choreographed.
Directed by Kensuke Sonomura and written by Yugo Sakamoto, “Ghost Killer” had its world premiere at the 2024 edition of Fantastic Fest. The movie takes place in an unnamed city in Japan. The story in “Ghost Killer” takes place over the course of a few days.
“Ghost Killer” begins by showing an assassin Hideo Kudo, who goes by the name Kudo (played by Masanori Mimoto), getting murdered in a dark warehouse-type building. He is shot to death, and his body is dragged away by a man, while two other men clean up the bloody mess. The bullet cartridge containing the bullet that killed Kudo rolls outside and onto the street.
A college student named Fumika Matsuoka (played by Akari Takaishi), who works part-time as a waitress in a bar, finds the bullet cartridge on the street when she falls down on a sidewalk. As soon as she pucks up the bullet cartridge, the spirit of Kudo enters her body, but she doesn’t know it at first. Kudo can also leave her body and show himself to Fumika, who is the only person who can see Kudo’s ghost.
Fumika’s best friend Maho Iida (played by Ayaka Higashino) asks to stay at Kudo’s place to get away from Maho’s horrible boyfriend Ryusuke (played by Ryu Ichinose), who physically and emotionally abuses Maho. At first, when Fumika says she can see a ghost, Maho think that Fumika is on drugs. Maho eventually believes her friend.
One day, Fumika sees Maho being abused by Ryusuke in an alley where there are no other witnesses. Fumika tries to intervene, but Ryusuke tells her to mind her own business and tries to gaslight Maho into thinking that she didn’t witness any abuse. Kudo tells Fumika that she needs to do something about this abuse.
It’s enough to say that Fumika finds out that Kudo’s fight skills can be transferred to her when the ghost holds her hand. Kudo’s movements can also be synchronized with Fumika’s movements. Fumika just wants Kudo out of her life.
Fumika tries to exorcise Kudo with salt, but that method doesn’t work. And that’s when Kudo tells her that he was an assassin, and the only way Kudo can be exorcized is if Fumika finds and kills the people who are responsible for murdering Kudo. Kudo further explains that the spent bullet cartridge that Fumika picked up was the conduit for his grudge.
The rest of “Ghost Killer” is somewhat of a “race against time” for Fumika to carry out Kudo’s wishes so she can get him out of her life. She has stereotypical frightened squealing and emotional meltdowns. But eventually, Fumika accepts that she has no other way to get out of her predicament but to do what Kudo says she needs to do.
Fumika comes across several men who become her fight opponents in this strange odyssey. The three who stand out the most are Riku Kagehara (played by Mario Kuroba) is a ruthless former colleague of Kudo’s. Masaki Katayama (played by Hidenobu Abera) is an event promoter who was a former social media influencer. Narumi (played by Naoto Kuratomi) is a current social media influencer.
There’s not much else to the plot of “Ghost Killer,” which is low on surprises but high on adrenaline-pumping action and some dark comedy. The entertaining rapport between Fumika and Kudo is the movie’s best asset. “Ghost KIller” has some ridiculousness, such as a fight scene in a bar where the bar’s employees are suddenly nowhere to be found as the fighting gets more violent. However, “Ghost Killer” doesn’t take itself too seriously—and neither should anyone who watches it.
Well Go USA released “Ghost Killer” on digital on July 22, 2025. The movie will be released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on September 23, 2025. “Ghost Killer” was released in Japan on April 11, 2025.