Straw Dogs

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. (2007-07-05)

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. (2013-11-01)

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%) (2021-03-03)

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%. (2009-04-01)

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. (2007-07-07)