The Sword of the Beast - Review

Returning to the work of Hideo Gosha, I feel very much the same about his second film as I did his first (Three Outlaw Samurai). While fundamentally solid, “The Sword of the Beast” does little to truly impress. Where the cast is strong, the cinematography is pleasant, and the fight choreography is great, the script comes up somewhat lacking.

Still, there are no easy jabs at “The Sword of the Beast”. It’s not a movie one can dismiss on the grounds of poor filmmaking or bad acting because the film has its essentials down pat. Considering this, I feel I’ll have cheated the movie if I give it a bad review as, again, it’s not so much that something is actively wrong with the movie as it feels like it’s missing something. It’s like the film is just on the verge of being more noteworthy than it is. Before I go any further, I wanted to make it clear that this movie has is admirable/interesting qualities, but they’re not as impactful or apparent as one might hope. Hopefully my writing will convey this.

For one thing, there’s noticeable American influence in this movie which cases it to play more like a western than what I’d typically think of as a samurai movie. This is neither good nor bad, just an observation. On a personal level, I tend to prefer samurai movies for the notable differences between Japanese and American filmmaking of the time, but I know plenty of folks who lean the other way. All I’m saying is the antihero on the run, hidden gold, and general feel of this movie amount to a slight departure from the genre that didn’t totally work for me.

On the other hand, “The Sword of the Beast” adopts the femme fatale archetype in more of an American fashion, and that didn’t bother me in the slightest. It’s unique to see a female character in this genre employ sexuality as a tool, especially to the degree that multiple characters do here. It helps that this movie came along relatively near the end of the “classic” era of samurai cinema when it was a somewhat easier to get away with showing a little skin, but I gotta give the movie props for being different in that regard.

I really do admire the energy to Gosha’s work. As much as I want to call this movie dull, it’s indisputably action packed, and as long as we’re getting some of that quality Gosha fight choreography I’m on board. The kills are convincing, and the swordplay sound design is above average for the time, but any reasons for me to feel compelled to revisit this end there. The foundation work is all there for an exceptional movie that this just isn’t. Perhaps the director’s gangster flicks will be more to my liking?

Verdict - Good