De website Screenrant is zo vriendelijk geweest om deze top tien met de coolste film huurmoordenaars te maken. Uiteraard staat Leon er op, maar mijn favoriet zal niet echt bekend zijn. Want Ghost Dog: The way of the Samurai (1999) is echt een must zie, stijlvol, keihard en soms zelfs grappig.

Not every hitman or hired gun has a code of honor to live by, but the titular hero of Ghost Dog (1999) takes things to a new level. Following the tradition of the Japanese samurai and the teachings of the Hagakure ('The Book of Samurai'), Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) brings unprecedented ritual and wisdom to the role of a hired killer.

Motivated not by greed or bloodlust but duty to the mobster who saved his life, Ghost Dog spends his days in meditation and congregation with his homing pigeons. If that alone isn't enough to prove he's one of a kind, did we mention his preferred weapon is a katana? Maybe now you understand why it's one of our favorite cult movies.

Ghost Dog's weaponry isn't the only thing that made a mob movie set in New Jersey feel fresh and original - but it didn't hurt. Ghost Dog's unique sense of life and death stole the show; after all, it's one thing to eliminate a target, but to convince the target that dying would make one a greater warrior than trying to fight - that's a gift.