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When you think of Sam Peckinpah, Straw Dogs usually isn't the film that comes to most people's minds. For most of us it's the 1967 classic The Wild Bunch. Straw Dogs did little business at the box office in 1971. In fact it was banned in many countries including England where it was shot. The movie was criticized for its unrestrained violence and the rather brutal depiction of a rape. Critics were unimpressed at the time, and the film faded away for a while. It received a bit of a resurrection in the mid-1980's when the film showed up at second run houses and eventually on home video. Perhaps it can be appreciated now, in a time where these taboos have been broken consistently and the film no longer appears to be the controversial piece it was then. If you have any doubt on that score you need look no farther than the remake in theaters now. While you'll find it often a word-for-word retelling, the level of violence has been amped up considerably. If you take the time to watch the original, you might find yourself asking what all the fuss was about.

David Sumner (Hoffman) is a mild math teacher who wants pretty much to be left alone to do his quiet research. He decides to return with his wife Amy (George) to the small rural English town where she grew up. It sounds like the perfect place for David to do his research in peace and quiet. To try and be a good guy he hires several local tradesmen to do work on the estate his wife recently inherited from her father. There's a roof that needs fixing and a rat problem that needs to be controlled. The group of locals happens to be led by Charlie Venner (Henney) who was also an old love interest of Amy's. The locals begin to leer a bit at Amy, and she is upset at her cowardly husband who doesn't appear willing to stick up for her. The teasing by the group extends to both of the Sumners and escalates to the point where a cat ends up killed. Still David refuses to push the issue. When the guys take him out on a hunting trip, it's really to keep him busy while two of the gang rape Amy. Still, she keeps quiet about the attack, while David is finally upset that the guys stranded him out on the moors.