Customer Reviews

Straw Dogs (Unrated Version)

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This film is one of the best works of Sam Peckinpah this movie deals with the true humanitarian phenomena, human nature for sexual orientation and needs and the most human seduction and temptation. This movie thrills you from the start to the end and the most magnificent aspect of the movie is its ambiguity and confusing nature of climax. "Straw Dogs" is an intense thriller that shows what can happen when you push even the mildest mannered man too far. In here, Dustin Hoffman plays a mathematician who temporarily moves to a house in a rural village in England with his wife, a former resident of the town, played by Susan George. The two withstand incessant needling from several of the townsfolk until George is raped and assaulted and Hoffman is pushed over the edge.

Incidentally, right after watching this film I found a documentary on cable about filmmakers from the late '60s to late '70s and one of the directors profiled was Sam Peckinpah. I had always considered his films to be violent and vaguely shocking, which never surprised me, knowing that he was a hard-living maverick who did things his way - an element that is resplendent in most of his films. A brief mention of Straw Dogs was included in this documentary, where they described it as a "sexist film". There are obvious scenes in the film that could support this criticism, but I think that is overanalyzing the film with a political correctness that is out of place. While the two female characters are both victimized, Susan George also has her moments of empowerment. I may be a female, but I don't consider Peckinpah's tendency to make testosterone-driven films any more sexist than anything that Tarantino puts out, and I'm a big fan of his work as well. It's a dangerous line to draw when one labels a film due to what is *not* included in a film.

What this film does contain is much more stellar - Hoffman is beyond incredible in this film. His character development is amazing to experience. One criticism of the film that I heard from a friend who saw it before me was that it "dragged." I couldn't disagree more. The development of the story until the extremely violent climax is a perfect pace because it made me feel like I was sitting in a dentist chair, knowing that this low boil could explode at any time. After the dust settles, the viewer is left to decide whether Hoffman's character made the right decision, and left to speculate on the ramifications of the choices made. This is by far one of the best films I've seen in recent months and from this director.

The DVD stops about 3/4 of the way through and then goes to the main menu. If you then choose "scenes" to return to where you were it continues to do the same thing. Worst video I have purchased from Amazon.

I liked this movie but only saw it because I try to see as many of the movies Ken Hutchison appears in as possible. He plays Norman Scutt and is great as usual. He always elevates the material of whatever movie or show he is in. Where is he now??? Really dark humor - cracks me up when David whines "They're breaking all my windows!" and when Norman just says "Bottle" before going off to wreak havoc. Poor little kitty cat. Very impressed by Susan George. She really pulls off a tricky role. Good for you, Susan! But Hutchison is the reason to watch it again....and again.

I remember hearing Charlton Heston once remark about Sam Peckinpah that the man had a great career and vision but then sadly "started blowing off heads." Heston may be right in his analysis of Peckinpah's dedication to dramatic violence, as one need look no further than the closing sequences of the seminal "Wild Bunch" to see a death toll of truly shocking proportions. This director's proclivity for bloody violence, usually shown in slow motion to ratchet up the effect, doesn't find as much expression in the 1971 psychological thriller "Straw Dogs." There are a few nasty encounters with a shotgun peppered throughout the final twenty or thirty minutes of this atmospheric picture, but nary a head leaves its shoulders here. Starring Dustin Hoffman, a few years after his stint in "The Graduate," and a fresh-faced Susan George, "Straw Dogs" spends more time setting up a pervasive sense of doom than concerning itself with a huge body count. Actually, this movie's restraint is surprising for a Peckinpah picture. Then again, I haven't seen a lot of Sammy's films, so perhaps this movie falls into a period when the director felt a need for moderation.

David Sumner (Hoffman) and his British wife Amy (George) decide to rent a cottage in England while David works on writing a book. The village the two decide to live in has intimate connections with Amy Sumner, who lived there before meeting and marrying the bookish David. A gang of local thugs, who the Sumners hire to repair the roof of the cottage's barn, well remembers Amy. One of the guys actually had a relationship with this mouthy woman, a link that bodes ill for the amiable but wimpy David. Even worse, the goons have the support of the primary troublemaker in town, a man who even the local constable tiptoes around. The Brits resent David's slightly arrogant manner, his nerdy appearance, and the fact that he goes home with one of their own every night. Disrespect for David takes mild forms at first, usually in the form of funny looks or comments muttered under the breath, but soon the tension between the men and the Sumners escalates into the murder of a pet cat and intimidation on the road leading into the village. David rationalizes away the threats by stating that the problem will simply "go away" if he ignores it. His wife, who seems to know more about how things work in town, urges David to confront the local men. The tension becomes palpable as Sumner must deal not only with the hostility of the local populace but with his wife's strident calls for action as well. It soon gets to the point where Amy questions David's manhood over his meek manners and sycophantic behavior.

Things go from bad to worse when Amy's former boyfriend, who sees David's simpering personality as a sign of weakness, decides to reassert his claim to Amy. In a scene that led to a ban on the film in Great Britain for three decades, the gang lures David away from the house so Amy's former beau can pay her a visit. The subsequent scenes are tough to watch, not necessarily because of their brutality but due to Amy's response to part of the proceedings. Not until another goon steps in does Amy show great resistance to what has happened, leading a viewer to believe that David's wife actually encouraged this sleazy rendezvous. Peckinpah seems to want us to think so, since Amy casts aspersions on David's manhood immediately before this incident. Surprisingly, Amy's misfortune is not the final straw that breaks the dog's back. Instead, a local criminal accidentally kills a local girl affiliated with the same village dregs making David's life miserable. Subsequent events find David providing sanctuary for this criminal as the thugs lay siege to the Sumner cottage. The result: a meek, educated man regresses into an animal capable of incredible violence.

"Straw Dogs" moves at a glacial pace as Peckinpah builds tension through the encounters between the Sumners and the locals. The performances are generally good, with Hoffman standing out as the harassed mathematician who wants to leave well enough alone and finish his work. David Warner, a personal favorite, does a good job as the mentally challenged criminal Henry Niles. Unfortunately, Warner doesn't appear onscreen as much as I would have liked. The thugs are, well, thugs. Susan George, on the other hand, grates as Amy Sumner. I hated her character, a woman who is quick to push David into confrontation, calls into question his manhood when he resists her efforts, and then essentially stands back in the end by letting him face the goons all by himself. Amy's reacquaintance with her former boyfriend creates a sense of ambiguity on the part of the viewer towards Amy Sumner: on one level, you hate her for "enjoying" the crime, but on the other hand you feel for her when things go further than she anticipated. But you feel sorry only to a point, and perhaps that is what Peckinpah intended. I cannot help but think this director created the Amy character in order to express a deep-seated misogyny.

Overall, I liked "Straw Dogs," but I wouldn't watch it again soon. I unfortunately watched the Anchor Bay DVD version, but a Criterion disc has since emerged sporting lots of extras that might shine a spotlight or two on the inner workings of the film. If you want to watch this picture, you should probably get that disc. Obviously, there won't be a Peckinpah commentary on the DVD (he's been dead for years), but Criterion does a good job with its releases. For me, I think I'll stick to "The Wild Bunch" and "The Getaway" in the future.

Visceral...that is this film in a nutshell. The main question is how in the world Hoffman and George's characters EVER got married. They have no chemistry and absolutely nothing in common. But get beyond this relationship and this film builds with wonderful intensity. It is a test for both Hoffman's character as well as George's to have the marriage be rocked by the old male "freinds" and to see Susan George's character slowly slip away from David because he is not "man enough" to put an end to the Brits' unacceptable behavior. She has lost her civility now that she is back on her home turf (a real irony since they came from the USA, where we are so much more barbaric than our UK bretheren). Only when the constable is killed and you really feel that all hope is truly lost does Dustin hop into action. And he really takes over and "proves" that he is a real man. Okay, so it is sort of a macho trip, but it is one of the most intense films of the 70s, certainly Peckinpah's best in my opinion. This DVD version is a rehash of the laserdisc, the print is identical to the Japanese letterbox import laserdisc. I bought Hoffman's character all the way. The locals are wonderfully menacing in a covert way. Very well done...and a lot of credit goes to the editing for this pacing.

Though the film's graphic violence created quite a stir upon its initial release and therefore got most of the critical attention, this is a movie with surprising depth of character and meaning. There is so much going on just beneath the surface that you might want to view it several times to let it all sink in. I think this is Peckinpah's finest film--one that raises vital questions about violence and the people who must resort to it. STRAW DOGS is an underrated masterpiece, just as powerful now as it was in 1971.

Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs is set in deepest darkest Cornwall among a collection of yokels and idiots that would give the inbreds from Deliverence a run for their money the half witted sexual deviant stakes. Leaving aside obvious grievances that the Cornwall Tourist Board will have with the film, what lies beneath the surface of this slick and stylish Western-by-the-sea ia a far more intriguing, puzzling and reasonably disturbing proposition. Taking residence in the quiet, backwoods (surely backwards?) english county with his english wife, Amy (Susan George), mathematician David Summer (Dustin Hoffman) is hoping the peaceful rural surroundings will help him finish a theory he is working on. Only problem, this is Amy's birth place, and the couple are soon stirring the attentions of the locals, particularly Amy's ex-boyfriend. And the attentions are not exactly welcome.
Peckinpah's odyssey of masculine enlightenment is troubling in a number of ways. There, is of course, the now infamous rape scene, itself considered too daring by UK censors for the best part of twenty years due to its "she likes it really" philosophy. This may grab all the headlines, but the real trouble here is with the issues this, and the later siege at the cottage, present to the audience.
Straw Dogs is essentially a film about the empowering effect of affirmative of affirmative action, of violence. In its exploration of primal urges and instinct it probably shares more in common with a film such as Fight Club than the 'Rape' films of its era, such as Clockwork Orange, with which it is constantly and unfairly bracketed. Peckinpah's film is a much darker and more intriguing piece than Kubrick's modern morality fable, but intrigue does not always guarantee satisfaction. He is grappling with a serious and sensitive idea here, and he has to applauded for his bravery in doing so, although Peckinpah was never one to shy away from 'difficult' issues. But for all his intentions (good or otherwise) it is maybe this gung-ho, no holds barred balls in hand attitude that is the films flaw. The final scene, in which David, who has for the majority of the film been avoiding any kind of conversation, much to the annoyance of Amy, dispatches the various locals who are attempting to break into his house in a variety of gruesome ways, is probably the most troubling. As he drives away from the scene, David allows himself a self-satisfied smile. He has become empowered, more of a 'man'. This allied, to the rape scenes "she likes a bit of rough" sentiments seem to create a rather simplistic and quite ugly moral philosophy. Amy is raped by her ex, who to her is the symbol of the rugged primal male psyche which she has for too long been deprived of from David. Men should be men and anyway thats how women want them to be anyway, regardless of whatever deeper implications others may place on the film, seems really to be its message.
The blame for this can really only be pointed at one man, Sam Peckinpah. Peckinpah is one of America's greatest directors, but his mysoginistic tendencies hamper his handling of a complex matter. The film is fascinating, watchable, interesting and nigh on essential for followers of cinema, but it is hard to watch it without being confused by its intentions, and without taking away a slightly sour taste in the mouth.
It would be difficult to call the film an honourable failure, so an interesting one would be more appropriate. Still, imagine what would have happened if Hitchcock had directed it... I dread to think.

With the attention this long-delayed release is getting in the British press, I decided to view it after avoidance for three decades. The film is emotionally complex (you might watch it alone so you can deal with your conflicted feelings) and somewhat flawed in editing and logic. Nevertheless, as a study of two imperfect humans--the newlyweds David (Hoffman) and Amy (George)--as they deal with a crisis that strikes at the core of their personal shortcomings, I think the film is quite good. Despite David's emergence as a "real man" fighting the invaders of "his" house, I think Amy is the more interesting character. They have retreated to her father's country house where every chair, she says bitterly, is "Daddy's chair." After her longing for the intimacy that David cannot provide goes horribly wrong, her sarcastic retort that evening when David complains about being snookered on the moors is a classic of rueful experience. David, as usual, is impervious to her meaning. When at the end of the film David drives off with the village idiot in tow, leaving Amy in a house full of dead men--with one or two perhaps still alive--he is as emotionally inaccessible to her as ever. This is a good movie about how flawed humans respond in extreme situations. The moral and emotional ambiguities inherent in their characters and actions make it all the more interesting.

Straw Dogs is very powerful film-making. Especially the final scenes where the music (bagpipes) plays like a funeral dirge...the action flows and one gets the feeling that all the violence is inevitable, set on a course of pre-destined fate. as for the misogynistic (spelling?!) tone of film...i have to agree. unfortunately, without that tone i don't think the film would have worked as well.

This review refers to the VHS Collector's Edition, Widescreen Presentation released by Anchor Bay......

You may or may not be familiar with the films of Sam Peckinpah,If you have found yourself here I suspect you are. Peckinpah's films(The Wild Bunch, Pat Garret and Billy the Kid) are usually violent and controversial but brillant and captivating. This film is all those things, but this is not a western (his ususal genre), this is set in rural England in the early 70's.
David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman), a brillant mathematician, and pacifist is married to Amy (Susan George), she is young beautiful, sexy,and childlike. To get away from the violent atmoshpere occuring in the States, they moved to her family home in rural England. They employ some local antagonists, all of which seem to be the unemployable types, to do handy work around the property. Of course the men all knew Amy from before and still lust after her. Amy does not do much in the way of disuading them, in fact the more David works and spends time away from her, the more flirtatious she becomes with the group.
A deadly cat and mouse game ensues between the workers and David. He is forced to protect his home and his wife. When they try to break into his house, it becomes a battle of wills. At first David goes about methodically and logically securing his house but eventually he must turn to violence to accomplish this goal. The scene becomes very suspenseful and violent. DON"T watch this one alone!
As I mentioned there are some very violent scenes and there also are some scenes of rape, this would not be for the sensitive viewer. But if you like Peckinpah you will want to see this one for sure.
This edition is widescreen(1.77:1), and has be digitally mastered. The sound and picture are very good. It came in a hard plastic casing.
Go For It..........Laurie