In this pitch black revenge drama from director Sam Peckinpah, mild-mannered maths teacher Dustin Hoffman finds his manhood tested when he moves to a Cornish village with wife Susan George and encounters local toughs who threaten his home. One of the key movies in the controversial 1970s debate about unacceptable screen violence (it was released in the same year as Dirty Harry and A Clockwork Orange), this cynical parable virtually states that all pacifists are violent thugs under their liberal exteriors. Reprehensible and disturbing in equal measure, the movie remains potent and shocking, particularly the much-discussed rape scene - the censors were concerned that George's character was unconsciously "asking for it". Those with a nervous disposition should approach with caution.

David Sumner, a mild-mannered academic from the United States, marries Amy, an Englishwoman. In order to escape a hectic stateside lifestyle, David and his wife relocate to the small town in rural Cornwall where Amy was raised. There, David is ostracized by the brutish men of the village, including Amy's old flame, Charlie. Eventually the taunts escalate.