Monday Movie Review - STRAW DOGS (a two-fer!)

I have to first say that I had seen neither version of STRAW DOGS, and after first viewing the remake, I rented the original version just to compare. And frankly, I think both are phenomenal.

The latest version takes place in the U.S., while the original takes place in the U.K. If you look past the differences in locale, and a couple of very tiny details, the two films are identical.

In brief, the Sumners return to the wife's home town to escape big city life, and to give Mr. Sumner a chance to work in the solitude and quiet he needs. (Hoffman is a mathematician on a grant, while Marsden is a screenwriter working on his first movie.)

Enter the locals who are hired to help with fixing up the wife's old estate, and of course one of the men used to be Mrs. Sumner's boyfriend.

Unintentionally the Sumners get involved in local politics, while Mr. Sumner tries to fit in. Unfortunately, things get very nasty in more ways than they can handle, and the retaliation by the locals is both brutal and hard to watch.

I will say the U.K. version is more explicit than the U.S. version.  After all, it is a Peckinpah film.  But both versions are intense, violent, and unforgiving. STRAW DOGS is not so much a horror film as it is psychological (although there is blood and carnage.)

The Hoffman version is a classic, and although it is more than 40 years old, it bears up incredibly well.  Which is why my recommendation is to

.  Hell, rent BOTH!  And then do your own comparison.