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)

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)

From my perspective, this is the strongest film by Sam Peckinpah. It is an incredibly powerful, unsettling drama dedicated to the phenomenon of violence. Psychologically accurate, credible, absurdly realistic, hurtful, and very bitter... A slowly unfolding story of the confrontation between an intellectually focused college student and uneducated country folk gradually gains momentum and culminates in a shocking massacre. It is a film about different value systems, the inability to compromise, but above all about dark instincts and suppressed aggressiveness that hide within each of us, and if circumstances allow them to manifest, they can cause unimaginable damage. Overall impression: 95%. (01/04/2009)

This return to the 1970s in the company of Dustin Hoffman and with Sam Peckinpah’s brilliant direction made me very happy. Straw Dogs is distinguished by its tense atmosphere, unconventional protagonist and, especially, female sexuality portrayed in an animal-like and instinctive fashion, which typical of Peckinpah’s works and never matched by anyone else in mainstream films. I wonder why this didn’t get an Academy Award nomination for editing. Was this film too spontaneous and sensuous, not textbook-smooth enough for the Academy? (20/01/2012)

Toying with the viewers and their mind is the best that a movie can offer. Alfred Hitchcock already knew that, just like a number of directors who follow his example and try to base their movies off it. Straw Dogs is a pretty rough movie. The main plus is the young Dustin Hoffmann, who transforms from a scaredy young man into a right butcher throughout the movie; aka basic human instincts win over reason. And that’s what the entire movie unfolds from. It has its charm, it’s worth watching, but in my opinion, the three stars are just enough for it. (01/11/2013)