‘Straw Dogs’, ‘Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia’, ‘The Wild Bunch’, ‘Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid’, ‘Cross Of Iron’… One doesn’t forget Sam Peckinpah’s films in a hurry.

By the early 1980s, his career had hit rock-bottom, despite a random hit with ‘Convoy’ in 1978. But he was still hungry to work, though deemed unreliable and dangerous by the powers that be.

Salvation came in the form of his one-time mentor Don Siegel, with whom Peckinpah had worked on a few movies including ‘Invasion Of The Body Snatchers’. Siegel had a tricky action sequence to shoot for his Bette Midler vehicle ‘Jinxed’ – he persuaded Peckinpah to storyboard and direct the sequence, and Sam ended up sticking around for 12 days, impressing everybody with his ideas and – frankly – sobriety.

Suddenly Peckinpah was back in the game. He was quickly offered a Robert Ludlum espionage thriller ‘The Osterman Weekend’, adapted by ‘Night Moves’/’Ulzana’s Raid’ writer Alan Sharp, concerning a TV personality who becomes convinced that his best friends are Soviet agents.

The producers insisted Sam be on his best behaviour and he was also given other directives: no drastic re-writing, no casting approval (he wanted James Coburn but got Rutger Hauer) and no final cut.

But he did get his choice of DP – John ‘Straw Dogs’ Coquillon. The budget was $7 million. Peckinpah finished in January 1983 on time and on budget. The movie just about made back its costs (not helped by an appalling trailer, so instead let’s see Mark Cousins’ ‘Moviedrome’ introduction, as below) and became a hit in the burgeoning video market.

‘The Osterman Weekend’ got a critical mauling and is yet to receive a posh official restoration. But watching it now, it turns out to be yet another fascinating, unpredictable and weirdly gripping Peckinpah movie.

He throws down the gauntlet with a seriously unpleasant opening scene which gives new meaning to coitus interruptus (apparently excised from the original theatrical cut). The sets are fairly drab. John Hurt seems miscast despite a nice Pinteresque switcheroo late in the piece and most of the female characters are ‘problematic’ (with one notable exception).

But Peckinpah puts together two or three superb action sequences including a thrilling chase through the outskirts of LA. Hauer shows unexpected depth alongside the usual impressive athleticism and Craig T Nelson – best known for his role in ‘Poltergeist’ – is excellent, as are Meg Foster, a clearly ill Dennis Hopper and Chris Sarandon. It sounds like Lalo Schifrin gathered the cream of the LA session scene for his nice if strange Yacht Rock soundtrack.

It also seems that Peckinpah got in a naughty rewrite after all and was incapable of just phoning in an assignment – the film is deeply personal, about betrayal, surveillance and the disintegration of relationships in Reagan’s America. And it’s also about protecting the family unit – yes, it’s Peckinpah’s take on Steven Spielberg…

‘The Osterman Weekend’ became his final film – he died in December 1984 at just 59. His last professional act was to direct two videos for Julian Lennon, of all people: ‘Valotte’ and ‘Too Late For Goodbyes’. But ’Osterman’ is well worth a look, if you’ve got a strong stomach and a love of weird, unpredictable movies.

Further reading: If They Move, Kill ‘Em by David Weddle