Straw Dogs

To consider the movie "Scarecrows" solely as a redneck horror film is definitely short-sighted. It is a film that brings up quite interesting questions in us, regarding what we are willing to do to protect our loved ones. And where is the boundary that we can still cross? Is there even a limit that we cannot approve of anymore? Or is it all just because we are able to awaken the beast within us, and gladly let it rage? Very unsettling, even after such a long time. Some movies simply don't age. (05/02/2014)

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)

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? (21/01/2012)

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. (08/07/2007)

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. (04/09/2008)