MovieChat Forums > Straw Dogs (1971) Discussion > This is a horror film

This is a horror film

posted a year ago by Rusty (548)
1 reply | jump to latest

…and just like the best horrors, it’s not just about boo-scares.

From the very first moments there’s a tense uneasiness. Hatred and violence simmer beneath every frame. Instead of sudden loud noises we get surprise rapes. Instead of zombies surrounding a house, we have drunk Cornish yokels with a blood lust.

The siege reminded me of Assault On Precinct 13 where the ‘zombies’ are psychotic gang members with silencers.

The demon in Straw Dogs is the animal nature of man, and it scars the happy couple forever. Everything is broken, most likely their marriage too, and David is left unable to ‘find his way home’.

As with Rosemary’s Baby, you feel like you need a shower afterwards

[–] whynotwriteme (7720) a year ago

On the other hand, knowing Peckinpah and his motifs, maybe Amy will be more satisfied with David now that he has realized his dominant masculine potential.

She seems to have responded more to the rough alpha male country boys than to David's restrained intellectualism, which she passive-aggressively mocked at every oportunity.

Note that David smiles at the end when he says he can't find his way home. He seems glad of it. Maybe he means he can't find his way home to his pacifistic Liberal ideals?