The 39 Steps vs. Straw Dogs

PCNewOnes

on 7/22/2010

Strangers in remote British locations, hiding from outside threats. Straw Dogs is a fine piece of terror from arch-misogynist Sam Peckinpah. The sheer unhingedness of the angry locals is so scary and the moral ambiguity of the female lead is refreshing in an era of last girls. The 39 Steps is classic Hitchcock. On the run from the law in an empty Scottish hotel, handcuffed to the Hitchcock blonde, the entire scene with the stockings over the fireplace... Not bad for 1935. The 39 Steps wins.