Kinji Fukasaku was just 15 years old when he was drafted to work in a Japanese munitions factory during World War II. After the factory was bombed, Fukasaku and his fellow survivors were tasked with burying the dead, many of whom had been Fukasaku’s classmates. It was then that Fukasaku realized that everything the adults had told him concerning the war was a lie. Decades later, he would tap into that sense of anger and betrayal for Battle Royale.

Based on Koushun Takami’s controversial novel, Battle Royale takes place in a dystopian Japan where the authoritarian government maintains control in part by shipping random junior high classes off to a remote island and forcing the students to hunt each other down until a single survivor remains. It’s a grotesque premise, and Fukasaku pulls no punches when it comes to the violence and bloodshed.

Not surprisingly, Battle Royale was heavily restricted in Japan and banned in several countries, but Fukasaku’s final film — he died while filming Battle Royale II: Requiem after battling prostate cancer — is no mere exploitation flick. Fukasaku’s aforementioned anger transforms it into something far more visceral and poignant.