Straw Dogs (1971)

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writers:

David Zelag Goodman (screenplay) and
Sam Peckinpah (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

29 December 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The knock at the door meant the birth of one man and the death of seven others!

Plot:

A young American and his English wife come to rural England and face increasingly vicious local harassment.

Plot Keywords:

American | Violence | Fight | Construction | Assault

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Dustin Hoffman	...	David Sumner
Susan George	...	Amy Sumner
Peter Vaughan	...	Tom Hedden
T.P. McKenna	...	Major John Scott
Del Henney	...	Charlie Venner
Jim Norton	...	Chris Cawsey
Donald Webster	...	Riddaway
Ken Hutchison	...	Norman Scutt
Len Jones	...	Bobby Hedden
Sally Thomsett	...	Janice Hedden
Robert Keegan	...	Harry Ware
Peter Arne	...	John Niles
Cherina Schaer	...	Louise Hood
Colin Welland	...	Reverend Barney Hood
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
June Brown	...	Mrs. Hedden (scenes deleted)
Chloe Franks	...	Emma Hedden (scenes deleted)
Michael Mundell	...	Bertie Hedden (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

118 min | USA:113 min (R-rated version)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor) (uncredited)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (uncut) (1981) | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1971) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Iceland:16 | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2007) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | USA:R (cut) | USA:Unrated (uncut) | Brazil:18 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:MA (DVD re-rating) (2004) | Australia:R (original rating) | France:-16 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 (re-rating) | Italy:VM18 (original rating) | Japan:R-15 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:(Banned) (video rating) (1999) | UK:18 (video re-rating) (2002) (uncut) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Lamorna Cove, Lamorna, Cornwall, England, UK

Company:

ABC Pictures

Trivia:

Because of its graphic portrayal of violence and two brutal rapes, the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) banned the film from being released on video/DVD from 1984 until 2002.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Amy fires the shotgun at the last attacker both the hammers are in the 'uncocked' position. She would need to pull the hammer of the relevant barrel backwards to cock the gun.

Quotes:

Tom Hedden: I'll have an answer, or I'll have blood!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sam Peckinpah's West: Legacy of a Hollywood Renegade (2004) (TV)

First rate thriller.

Peckinpah's post- 'Wild Bunch' movies were a mixed bag. Frequently battling studios, censors and/or his own demons, some are genuine classics ('..Alfredo Garcia'), some are entertaining potboilers ('The Getaway'), and some like 'Straw Dogs' are in between. I could never argue that this movie is his best work, but it is far from his worst, and whatever you can say about his movies, they are ALWAYS interesting.

'Straw Dogs' is the closest he came to making a genre horror/thriller movie. If you enjoy 'Rio Bravo'-inspired siege movies such as Romero's 'Night Of The Living Dead' or Carpenter's 'Assault On Precinct 13', check this one out. But it is more than "just" a thriller - it features strong character development, and morally ambiguous situations among the tense build up to the explosive climax.

In these P.C. times 'Straw Dogs' offers no simple answers, but plenty of issues for discussion, and it is to be commended for that. "Right" or "wrong"? YOU decide!