Bloody Sam is an in-depth look at legendary film director Sam Peckinpah's tumultuous life, both on and off the set. At once lauded and vilified, Peckinpah introduced a new brand of stylized, naturalistic violence to moviemaking in such classic films as The Wild Bunch, Straw Dogs, The Getaway, and Convoy. Virtually every director of violent action films of the last twenty years-Brian DePalma, Martin Scorese, Francis Ford Coppola, and others-acknowledges a debt to Peckinpah. But for every critic who hailed his visual brilliance and narrative daring, another condemned his work as a glorification of violence.

Peckinpah's story includes encounters with the greats of Hollywood from the 1950s through the 1980s and is a microcosm of the changes the film industry underwent in the 1960s. Every producer Peckinpah worked with tried to tone down his films so they would appeal to a wider audience, but Peckinpah refused to compromise. As a result, almost every movie he directed involved no-holds-barred wars over creative control. In Bloody Sam, Marshall Fine presents a comprehensive look into the life of a remarkable man whose impact on American film is still felt today.