Ghost Killer (4 Stars)

This is the eleventh film in the Stuttgart Weird Weekender Festival.

It's the first film in the festival that was made with a large budget.

Fumika is a high school student. Her age isn't stated in the film, but she calls herself a child, which would make her under 16. While walking home she finds a bullet case and carries it home with her. A strange man follows her home. She finds out that she's the only one who can see him. He's the ghost of Kudo, a hitman who was killed after being betrayed by his gang.

Kudo tells Fumika that he'll remain with her until he gets revenge on the man who killed him. But what can a Japanese schoolgirl like Fumika do? Whenever Fumika grips Kudo's hand he takes complete control of her body for a few minutes. She can fight with his martial arts and weapons skills. Fumika is passive in her body, seeing everything that she's doing but unable to control it. When they detach she argues with Kudo, because she doesn't approve of him making her kill people.

I might have given the film five stars, but one thing disturbs me. In many of the fight scenes we see Kudo fighting, even though he's in Fumika's body. That spoils it. We see Kudo and Fumika exchanging places from shot to shot. I suspect the reason is because the actor who plays Kudo is a skilled martial artist, and he can do many stunts that the actress who plays Fumika can't. If that's the case, they should have found another actress. If it's any other reason, they simply blundered.