Nostalgia Kinky

Radiance has released its excellent limited release of The Beast to Die (1980) as a standard-edition Blu-ray, featuring the same on-disc extras as the limited disc. A ferociously original and jarring cinematic experience, The Beast to Die features a beautiful 4K restoration and essential interviews with the director, screenwriter, and original novelist as bonuses on this outstanding release for a masterful film. Order now from Radiance or from MVD.

A Japanese production from KADOKAWA, The Beast to Die is the work of filmmaker Tōru Murakawa. Just a few years past forty at the time of the film’s release. Murakawa directs the film with intense precision and astonishing originality. Continuously going in unexpected directions, The Beast to Die is a fine and unforgettable piece of filmmaking from Murakawa, resistant to easy categorization.

Starring a masterful Yūsaku Matsuda, as a murderous shell-shocked war correspondent planning a bank heist, The Beast to Die is unsettling, deeply unsettling. The film opens with a haunting rain-soaked murder sequence filmed entirely in one take with no cuts. As an audience, we’re immediately sucked into this strange and nightmarishly somber story about a very damaged young man and the even more dangerous system that made him that way.

Based on a novel, The Beast to Die is scripted by future Yokohama BJ Blues (1981) screenwriter Shōichi Maruyama. Featuring long dialogue-free stretches, the script is concise and poetic. It bites too, as The Beast to Die makes the most of its bloody and violent setpieces. Photographed by acclaimed Seizō Sengen, The Beast to Die is a great-looking production as well, making this one of the most fully realized films I have seen in a bit. Pretty much everything here works.

The Beast to Die maintains an overwhelmingly evocative, almost nightmarish portrayal of violence. Murakawa continues filming these sequences in one take from a distance, giving an almost documentary-like impression. These moments are positively chilling, even almost operatic, remaining completely believable in terrifying ways. Aspects of The Beast to Die reminded me of Kieslowski’s A Short Film About Killing.
That’s how goddamn good this is.

The Beast to Die weaves such a particularly odd spell that it is hard to zero in on exactly what it is that makes this film so distinctively extraordinary. A big aspect is the film’s astonishing editing by Osamu Tanaka. The man who cut films like School of the Holy Beast edits The Beast to Die like a piece of cinematic poetry. Tanaka and Murakawa form a powerful team, creating a remarkably rhythmic film, quite unlike anything else I have ever seen.

The 4K restoration of The Beast to Die is splendid, and the disc features a fascinating set of extras. While this isn’t one of the more packed Radiance releases, The Beast to Die is one of my favorite releases from this excellent company.
A massive recommendation.

-Jeremy Richey, August 2026-