Straw Dogs

STEVIE SIMKIN is Reader in Drama and Film at the University of Winchester, UK. He is the author of, amongst other works, Revenge Tragedy: A New Casebook (2001), Early Modern Tragedy and the Cinema of Violence (2005), and, also in the Controversies series, a volume on Basic Instinct (forthcoming, 2013).

• ContentsAcknowledgementsA Note on ReferencesIntroductionSynopsisPART I: STRAW DOGS THENProduction HistoryGenesis and Pre-ProductionShooting and the Problem of Susan GeorgeThe Editing Process: Shaping an EndingOriginal Release and ReceptionEngland Swings, America Rocks: Straw Dogs in its Cultural ContextFeminism and the Sexual RevolutionBacklash: Morality, Censorship and the MPAAStraw Dogs and the American CensorsStraw Dogs, American Audiences and American CriticsSixties Britain: a Quieter RevolutionStraw Dogs and the UK CriticsPART II: STRAW DOGS NOWHome Video Release: the Video Nasties DebateEighteen Years in the WildernessMoving with the Times: the BBFC and sexual violenceStraw Dogs UnboundPART III: KEY THEMES AND IDEASIntroductionStraw Dogs, Masculinity and ViolenceStraw Dogs and VietnamA Man's House IsThe Problem of AmyPART IV: KEY SCENE ANALYSISThe Rape Scene: IntroductionVenner's ArrivalThe First RapeThe Second RapeScript DevelopmentEroticising, EndorsingPART V: THE LEGACY OF STRAW DOGSStraw Dogs, Survival Horror and Rape RevengeRemake/RemodelClosing ThoughtsAPPENDICESAppendix A: Key DetailsAppendix B: List of ReferencesEndnotes.

'A swift, compelling read. Thorough and scholarly without the faintest whiff of academic stuffiness, Stevie Simkin's study of Straw Dogs summons up the turmoil of the 1960s and 70s and illuminates the highly charged subject of sexual violence on film' - Stephen Farber, Film Critic, The Hollywood Reporter "fascinating stuff, written in a way that thankfully avoids too much media studies pomposity and instead takes a straightforward, very readable approach to the story. ... a fascinating account of the long and complex history of this difficult but brilliant film. If the remainder of the series are as impressively produced, then Controversies looks like being the essential book series of the year." - David Flint, strangethingsarehappening.com "What first impresses about this book is its depth of research. There are lots of fascinating insights into production and revelations that make it a must for those interested in Peckinpah as a filmmaker. ... If you find Straw Dogs the film interesting, ... this comes highly recommended, and if you intend to go on to watch the remake, it's a must-read." - Jennie Kermode, eyeforfilm.co.uk 'Exceptionally well-written ... needs to be read by anyone interested in understanding Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs as a serious work of cinematic art.' - Garner Simmons, author of Peckinpah - A Portrait in Montage. 'Stevie Simkin, one of the Controversies series' co-editors (with Julian Petley), picks his way through this potential minefield with exceptional tact, skill and thoroughness...Anyone interested in teaching on the film, as Simkin has over many years (experience which has surely enriched his understanding of it), will find this monograph an invaluable resource and an instructive model of contextual and textual analysis.' - British Universities Film and Video Council 'Both books throw out so many insights and new ideas concerning these two examples of cinema maudites that they are studies valuable both to cineastes and students of the way in which popular culture works. This is proving to be a most valuable series.' - Crime Time, on Straw Dogs and A Clockwork Orange