Review: Straw Dogs (2011)

It was 1971 when Sam Peckinpah shot his controversial film, 'Straw Dogs'. Starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George it was a story of an American and his English wife returning to her native village in rural England. It touched on a few themes that are now pretty common in Horror films - that of the stranger in a strange hostile environment with dangerous locals. We're seen this many times in films such as Deliverance, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Southern Comfort. What makes Straw Dogs different that others in the genre is that isn't set in the woods of rural America or the swamps of the Bayou but in Cornwell, England. A place you wouldn't associate with danger especially for UK and Irish viewers.


40 years later Hollywood releases a remake. Predictable, for box office appeal, they change the location to the United States but other than that it's pretty much a shot for shot and line for line remake. That's not to say it's just as good. The two leads James Marsden and Kate Bosworth lack the acting ability of the original couple. The bad guys in these do a decent enough job and those of you who are familiar with USA TV shows will recognise a few faces. The biggest let down with them is surprisingly, James Woods character. Woods is normally an actor I like but he lacked the conviction and leadership that was show by his English counterpart (Peter Vaughan) in Peckinpah's film.

I imagine most of these comparisons are immaterial as I would say 90% of the target audience haven't heard of, never mind seen the original and with no doubt in a few years time it will be lost with the other Hollywood copycats.