Men still behaving badly in 'Straw Dogs'

Sam Peckinpah's 1971 bloodbath, "Straw Dogs," starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George as a citified couple terrorized by rural thugs, remains a singularly troubling masterpiece. Condemned for its misogynistic rape scene and a crystal-clear message that masculinity requires brutality, it's one of the least politically correct movies ever made.

Who would have thought, in this day and age, we'd see a remake?

In the 2011 version, writer-director Rod Lurie ("The Last Castle") gutsily strides up to Peckinpah's boots, matching the original punch for punch, adding some new weapons (the nail gun) and affectionately keeping some old favorites (the bear trap). It's a taut, efficient action film, and while modern sensibilities keep it from crossing too many lines, it at least hints at deeper themes. (The source material is Gordon Williams' 1969 novel, "The Siege of Trencher's Farm.")

James Marsden and Kate Bosworth play David Sumner, a Hollywood screenwriter, and his wife, Amy, who relocate to her Mississippi hometown for a quiet getaway. Instead, they encounter Amy's jealous ex-boyfriend, Charlie (Alexander Skarsgard, chillingly charismatic), and his gang of good ol' boys, including the seemingly benign Bic (Drew Powell), the obviously malevolent Coach (James Woods) and the creepily quiet Norman (Rhys Corio).

Despite repeated insults and worse (the rape scene, though more delicately handled, is still gut-wrenching), David never makes a stand. But when a mentally-disabled man (Dominic Purcell) is suspected of killing a young girl and ends up cloistered at David's house, David refuses to release him to the lynch mob outside. As the gang begins to attack and invade, the film becomes a catharsis of violence, though partly because Lurie follows Peckinpah nearly shot for shot.

Peckinpah knew how to tap into the nastiest fears of the male psyche, something Lurie does only glancingly here. But "Straw Dogs" is still strong enough to get your stomach in a knot.