Ghost Killer - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Ghost Killer



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Ghost Killer has been on my radar for quite some time, thanks to the success of the Baby Assassins films, but I was surprised to see it was starring the non-martial artist out of the titular duo. Akari Takaishi has done fantastically as the affable comic relief of the pair. Still, Saori Izawa has naturally taken the brunt of the combat roles in all 3 films due to her history as a Stunt Woman and martial artist. Not only that, this could be in reality considered Baby Assassins 4, as series creator Yuko Sakamoto comes back as writer for this film (he was the director and creator of Baby Assassins) while action choreography Kensuke Sonomura steps into the director’s chair for Ghost Killer. Or, at least a tangential work in the same universe, as I could barely tell the tonal difference between Baby Assassins and Ghost Killer.

As I said above, it’s usually Saori Izawa who took the lead for the serious action bits in the Baby Assassins franchise due to her martial arts prowess, while Akari Takaishi took the comedic route. Here she fulfills both roles, using her trademark “Kawaii girl” character and complementing it with Mario Kuroba’s seriousness when she gets possessed by the ghost of a dead hitman. Short, simple, and to the point. Ghost Killer’s plot revolves around young Fumika Matsuoka (Takaishi), a college student who accidentally gets bound to the spirit of a recently murdered Hitman named Kagehara (Mario Kuroba) when she picks up a bullet casing off the side of the street. Unfortunately, getting rid of Kagehara turns out to be harder than just dropping the bullet casing, as he seems bound to her due to the brutal murder.

However, that isn’t all bad, as Fumika finds out when her friend gets assaulted by her prick boyfriend. It seems that Kagehara can actually possess her body and use his skills as a lethal hitman through her. Now she’s a force to be reckoned with, and if that means she and Kagehara have to wade through a pile of gangster bodies to fulfill his spirit grudge and release his spirit, then so be it.

Strangely enough, I caught a distinct vibe from the highly underrated Upgrade in the combat, as Kagehara manipulates Fumika’s body like a puppet, but still well within the tonal elements of Baby Assassins. Takaishi still plays it up with the comedic vibes for most of the film, but she is able to step into the action role pretty easily, especially with gunplay. Due to her lack of professional martial arts training, Sonomura chose to have the audience see Kagehara’s spirit visually on screen during the really heavy lifting in the hand-to-hand combat scenes. It’s a little bit of a cheat, but I get it since Takaishi isn’t exactly going to be keeping up with the martial arts combat, and it’d be a shame to waste Mario Kuroba on screen.

The movie is a bit silly at times, but much like Baby Assassins, it actually seems to work more often than not. Takaishi is adorable as always, and Mario Kuroba adds some much-needed darkness to the film (although his comedic chops aren’t half bad either). The film dips heavily into some seriously brutal combat at times, involving torture, implied torture, blood, and a couple of action sequences that seriously brought out the blood packets. The comedic overtones mixed with the hearty violence make for a fun watch, and both Takaishi and Kuroba play well off each other. I had a harder time with Masanori Mimoto’s “shift” near the end of the film when Kudo reveals who murdered Kagehara, but overall, all 3 main actors did a great job.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




4K Video: Video:

Like usual, I could find next to zero information on what camera was used for the shoot, but I can be pretty assured that it’s a digital shoot of some sort. IMDB lists a 2K DI used for the home video master, but for a 2K to 4K upscale, the image is much nicer than I was expecting. It doesn’t try to imitate film stock at all, but leans into the glossy and digital nature of the source. Being that this takes place in interior locations and dark, shadowy alleys, black levels are absolutely paramount. Shadow details look fantastic, though, and the Dolby Vision does quite a job with the silkiness and depth of it all. The image is not going to be an eye popper with HDR/DV like some, but a more restrained and fulfilling approach with subtle tweaks here and there. Most of the colors are still pretty dull and dingy, but the creation of amazing black levels and depth of color to outdoor foliage makes this primo. The Blu-ray, in comparison, looks a bit washed out and over-brightened, while this just looks more realistic and textural. The few pop-out moments that I can think of are during the bar fight with all of the shiny metal gear, as well as the opening scenes with Kagehara fighting. It’s not a flashy-looking image, but it’s very pristine, with no signs of artifacting and very revealing image clarity.





Audio:

The lone Dolby Atmos track in Japanese (there is no English mix, though strangely there is a Japanese 5.1 DTS-HD MA track, even though the Atmos track folds down into a core 7.1 Dolby TrueHD one) sounds superb, with a near-perfect mix. I had to push the receiver up a couple of notches, but when done, this is a rather aggressive track, with the sounds of gunplay taking front and center in the mix. Dialog is excellent and locked up front, while the surrounds thrive off of the near constant action. Even when the track slides back into a more dialog-centric role, the little ambient sounds of the bar, or the streets of the city, all flow effortlessly through the mix. Overheads are relegated to mostly ambient sounds and some score usage, but this is still a top-tier mix nonetheless.








Extras:

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Final Score: ​

Ghost Killer isn’t as epic as I had hoped it would be, but it feels very much on par with the solid quality that we have gotten with all 3 Baby Assassins films (being that both the writer/director and action choreographer of those films are the creators of this one). It’s fun, breezy, full of hardcore violence, and has a tongue-in-cheek humor that had me grinning from ear to ear. The 4K UHD presentation from Well Go USA is very solid, with great video and, luckily, no major audio issues like I had with Baby Assassins 3. Fun watch



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Akari Takaishi, Mario Kuroba, Masanori Mimoto, Hidenobu Abera
Directed by: Kensuke Sonomura
Written by: Yugo Sakamoto
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: Japanese: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), Japanese DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English, French
Studio: Well Go USA
Rated: NR
Runtime: 105 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: September 23rd, 2025

Recommendation: Fun Watch

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