5. Straw Dogs (1971)
Mild mannered American academic David and his sexy young wife move to Cornwall so he can get some work done away from all of the college rioting that was so prevalent in the US at that time. However it happens to be a local town for local people who don't take well to David and begin to menace him. David tries to win their favour and they repay him by raping his wife. The locals are after the village idiot Henry Niles - who had accidentally strangled a girl that day - and is inside David's house. Cue a home invasion! In amazing scenes of ultra violence, the local yokels try to force themselves into David's house and they are all repelled in extraordinary fashion. Two get boiling oil thrown over them, a man's foot is mangled by a foiled shotgun attack, one is beaten to death with a poker and another one has a mantrap forced over his head. The wimpy David turns out to be a kick ass redneck killer. Directed by Sam Peckinpah, Straw Dogs essentially lifts the western formula he is so adept with onto a deepest darkest Cornwall setting. His penchant for ultra violence is in full effect here, but you can't help but cheer on David when he goes postal on the yokels' asses.