The Beast Shall Die (1959) | Region-Free (Blu-Ray) | English Subtitles

Title: The Beast Shall Die (1959)

Genre:
Drama, Crime, Thriller

Plot Synopsis:
A promising postgraduate literature student, Kunihiko Date, is transformed by personal trauma and his growing contempt for society into a cold and calculating killer. As his crimes escalate, the police begin closing in, leading to a tense pursuit through a cynical postwar Japan shaped by alienation, corruption, and changing social values.

Cast and Crew

• Director: Eizō Sugawa
• Writer: Yoshio Shirasaka
• Original Writer: Haruhiko Ōyabu
• Cast:
  • Tatsuya Nakadai as Kunihiko Date
  • Hiroshi Koizumi as Detective Masugi
  • Reiko Dan
  • Yumi Shirakawa
  • Makoto Satō

IMDb: The Beast Shall Die (1959)

Reviews from Letterboxd

1. Filipe Furtado — ★★★★
   “Anticipates a lot of what’s best about 60s Japanese New Wave influenced thrillers.”
2. Doc Lyon — ★★★★
   “Portrait of the artist as young psychopath.”
3. Rafid — ★★★★
   “nakadai had no reason to be that sexy”
4. Stephen M — ★★★
   “A Japanese noir-ish thriller about police tracking down a nihilistic serial killer.”
5. TheLobbyBoy — ★★★★
   “Academic by day. Killer by night.”

Meta Description:
The Beast Shall Die (1959) is a Japanese crime thriller directed by Eizō Sugawa and starring Tatsuya Nakadai as a disillusioned literature student whose descent into violence transforms him into a calculating killer pursued by the police.