Savant checks in with two zingers tonight from Criterion and HVe - a deluxe disc set of a Sam Peckinpah classic, and a surprise treat in the form of a tripped-out journey into the wilds of New Guinea.

Straw Dogs is the one where Dustin Hoffman defends his castle while twisting Susan George's hair to show her how much of a man he is. A brutal rape, an attempted lynching and a siege on a castle-like stone house provide the thrills in Sam Peckinpah's best-realized film in a contemporary setting.

HVe's The Valley (Obscured by Clouds) is a weird safari film, following a sextet of French flower children into the highlands of New Guinea, to prepare to enter a promised Valley of Paradise away from the corruption and false values of our world. Dropping sexual inhibiitons along with their materialism, they commune with a primitive tribe along the way. It's a very original, very different French counterculture film, the rare kind that's not an embarassment.

The Sellers films are not long off, and I'm hoping for the Fox Sci Fi pictures soon , but there's plenty more good stuff to review first. Here's to a week without a war - let's take it one day at a time. Thanks for reading, Glenn Erickson