Straw Dogs

The slow beginning is a shame, this film would deserve the highest score otherwise. The final half hour is brilliant and the depressive aftermaths are really impressive. Straw Dogs is one of the most representative yokels-in-action type of films and, together with Deliverance, is one of the cornerstones of the hixploitation horror subgenre – and that is enough for me to like it. (03/09/2008)

Scarecrows serve studies of violence, transformations of human nature, or layers of fear, but in such a bland form that not even the traditionally precise Dustin Hoffman can save anything. When I want to see a transition of the hero from a weakling to a cold defensive machine, I expect more than a helpless guy who suddenly squints his eyes and starts acting. That is not an incredibly built twist for me, but a deus ex machina in favor of Peckinpah, who can indulge himself in blood, action, and editing. (05/07/2007)

A clear example that even someone who seems harmless can become a threat to their oppressors under oppressive circumstances. Dustin Hoffman as a mathematics teacher convincingly portrayed the transformation from a pushover to an individual fighting for survival, and Susan George in the role of his wife matched him in acting skill perfectly. This finely crafted suspenseful film, with a touch of exaggeration, could be considered a small showcase of repulsive bully characters. Watching the film caused very depressing feelings in me, which I am not going to torture myself with again. (75%) (04/03/2021)

The seventies in full glory and just the way we like it in the film industry. An intimate tale of cruel psychological harm and its consequences, delivered without unnecessary clichés and with a searing intensity that lies not so much in the final bloody scene as in the way Peckinpah conveys the plot. Repulsive villagers at every turn, a suffocating atmosphere permeating even between the central married couple, all with excellent editing and music, through which Peckinpah lets the viewer experience the story of the main characters far more intensely than just by sight and sound. Also, Hoffman, as a very atypical film hero, confirmed his enormous acting talent and a large part of the film belongs to him. Ironically, my complete satisfaction is prevented by the final thrilling carnage, which, despite all the precision, seemed somewhat unbelievable, and also by the unclear and strange attitude of the female protagonist (whose side was she on in the end?). Otherwise, however, this is an excellent spectacle in all respects, the quality of which is not matched only by the Oscar nomination for music. (08/06/2013)

A year before Boorman’s Deliverance, Peckinpah came along with an almost identical idea. The only difference is the setting in the Highlands of Scotland. That’s where American physicist David moves with his English wife with slightly loose morals. The excellent steady rise in tension and perfect actors are the main pluses. Straw Dogs will no longer provoke such controversy as when it was released, but even so, it has much to offer even to today’s viewer. (07/07/2007)