Banned because of a troubling "no-means-yes" rape scene, Sam Peckinpah's Cornish western - - the lynch mob say "ooh-aw" instead of "yee-haw" - - now finds its way onto DVD uncut.
It's a harrowing, expertly assembled drama, Dustin Hoffman's cowardly mathematician pissing off the straw-chewing yokels, not least because he's married one of their own (the lovely Susan George). Their bully-boy tactics get steadily out of hand, culminating in a siege of Hoffman's farmhouse - - brutal catharsis after an hour-and-a-half of drip-feed tension.
DVD Extras:
Two fascinating commentaries, one courtesy of Peckinpah's assistant Katy Haber, the other by biographers Garner Simmons, Paul Seydor and David Weddle, offer a wealth of info, while interviews with George, producer Dan Melnick and Simmons plug any gaps. Of the other bits and bobs, best are the 1971 Television South West On Location doc (witness Sam slagging off source novel The Siege Of Trencher's Farm) and History Of Straw Dogs And The Censors, a text file taking us through the movie's mangling on both sides of the pond.
