20 Greatest Revenge Movies Of All-Time
11. Straw Dogs
"You can only push a guy to the limit... but expect consequences." This is the mantra that Straw Dogs lives (and its character's die) by; indeed, it was one of the many great taglines used to market the movie (other memorable taglines include: "The knock at the door meant the birth of one man and the death of seven others!" and "Every man has a breaking point").
The plot here is simple, primal and perhaps even relatable (its bloody climax, perhaps, not so much): Dustin Hoffman plays an American mathematician called David Sumner, who relocates to Cornwall in England with his British wife, Amy. The village is seemingly "normal," but beneath the surface it is actually a nightmarish vision of unrivalled uncomfortableness. The locals are weird, insular and lacking in morals; to enter their world uninvited is to commit the ultimate insult.
So a war begins (and escalates it does), as the previously meek David is forced to become something primeval when his wife is horribly attacked in their home. Straw Dogs means revenge with a capital "R."