Censors pass 'Straw Dogs' for video release

Straw Dogs, a notoriously violent 1970s film starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George, is to be released on video for the first time in almost 20 years after censors finally passed its rape scenes.

The British Board for Film Classification (BBFC) made its decision after taking advice from psychologists.

The film, directed by Sam Peckinpah, was withdrawn from British shops when video classification was introduced in 1984 amid the row over "video nasties". It follows an American university researcher (Hoffman) living in a Cornish village who erupts into violence when drunken villagers assault him and his wife, Amy.

In one scene, regarded as among the most disturbing in movie history, Amy, played by Susan George, is raped by her former boyfriend and then by another man.

A version cut by American distributors was blocked four years ago because, by deleting the second rape, it left the possible impression that Amy was enjoying the rape. But the board has now passed the film for video and DVD release after the original sequence, involving the second rape, was reinstated, putting the violence into context.

The BBFC is increasingly carrying out research to support its decisions when faced with a difficult case. For Straw Dogs, it asked clinical psychologists who work with sex offenders to assess the film after another distributor submitted the original 1971 uncut version for classification.

They advised that the uncut version was not likely to encourage an interest in rape or abusive behaviour towards women. Members of the public to whom the video was shown as part of the research also agreed by a majority that an "18" uncut certificate was most appropriate.

A spokeswoman said: "The board recognises that the rape scene in Straw Dogs has lost only part of its power over the years. None the less, in this restored version ... our own conclusion is that the film has no significant potential to cause harm to viewers or, through their actions, to society as a whole."