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The one American director to whom Yasuzo Masumura is most often compared is the great Hollywood maverick Samuel Fuller. Like him, Masumura can inject passion, psychological insight, and political allegory into the most b-grade genre fare. In Afraid to Die he tries his hand on a fairly standard yakuza tale with mixed results. The film is filled with his always impeccable visual panache, and his depictions of the yakuza are certainly subversive. Far from tough hoods, they are portrayed as bunglers, cowards, rapists and strike breakers. Masumura's personal touches make the film interesting, but the plot is still pretty run-of-the-mill. In a bit of stunt-casting, famous novelist Yukio Mishima (Masumura's college classmate) plays the lead role. Unfortunately, he's not much of an actor. Stiff and self-conscious, he poses and smirks more than he acts. He just doesn't have the intensity required for the part. While not on a par with Masumura's better efforts, like Blind Beast and Giants and Toys, Afraid to Die is at least of interest for the personal vision he brings to substandard material.