Straw Dogs (1971), Sam Peckinpah
4/5
This brilliant psychological thriller is more of a horror film, where all the monsters are human. Performances are excellent by all, but Dustin Hoffman gives one of his best performances alongside Susan George who is also brilliant. The film has great slow pacing, building tension between the characters. The cinematography excellently compliments the tone and mood of the plot. The restrained limited use of music and score make the film eerily quiet and thus emphasise and intensify when music is featured. Most of all the film leaves much open ended especially the motivations of the characters which are ultimately morally ambiguous. The subjectmatter, characters, cinematography all are intense and the film hasn't really dated at all. The unrated 2002 edition gives a more complete and intense story rather than the earlier censored versions. Overall a thought provoking, morally intense, realistically and psychologically violent film.
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