"I Spit on Your Grave" (1978)
(a.k.a. "Day of the Woman")
Starring Camille Keaton, Eron Tabor, Richard Pace, Anthony Nichols, Gunter Kleeman
Directed by Mier Zarchi
This is the film that film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert led a successful campaign to remove it from the theaters because of the content. Admittedly, it's not an easy film to watch by any stretch of the imagination, but I wouldn't consider it complete trash like they did.
Jennifer (Camille Keaton, Buster Keaton's grand-neice) is a writer who goes to the country to write her first novel in peace and quiet. However, four rednecks have other ideas and, in one of the most brutal scenes put to film, rape her repeatedly. After recovering from her wounds, she gets her revenge.
Now the film, originally called "Day of the Woman" when it was released, is not the first film to deal with revenge. Before this, there was Wes Craven's "Last House on the Left," which involved the parents of a teenage murder victim getting revenge on her killers. The fact that the film had the victim getting the revenge over some second party might have made some people squeamish about the whole thing or pooh-pooh the concept of the film.
Yeah, the film is exploitive. The rape scene is at least 30 minutes long -- first she's raped in the woods, then in a wooded clearing, then in her cabin. But I wouldn't say the film encourages rape or makes it look "entertaining" -- quite the contrary. It is shown in its naked brutality, and shows the realities of rape. Director Mier Zarchi was allegedly inspired to make the film after seeing the aftermath of a woman on the street who had been raped and abused. Watching Jennifer go through what she goes through, you just want to cringe because of how brutal it is.
How she gets her revenge is not any less exploitive. She seduces two of the men, hanging one as he comes to climax and castrating the other one and allowing him to bleed to death while locked in a bathroom. She kills one with an axe to the back and manages to kill the fourth while he's stupidly perched on the outboard motor while talking to her.
It's not a movie I would recommend primarily because of the exploitive nature of it.
But it's not AS bad as people make it out to be. Camille Keaton's performance is actually pretty good, and took some bravery on her part. The four guys playing the rapists could use some work (in fact, going to imdb.com, neither of them acted in another film after this one) . And if you watch it, it's clearly told from the victim's point of view.
Again, can't really recommend it, but if you feel like you have to watch it, see if you can find the Millenium edition DVD, which contains two commentary tracks. One from director Mier Zarchi, and one from southern film critic of B-movies Joe Bob Briggs. Highly recommend the Joe Bob Briggs track.
Buy "I Spit on Your Grave" on DVD
Starring Camille Keaton, Eron Tabor, Richard Pace, Anthony Nichols, Gunter Kleeman
Directed by Mier Zarchi
This is the film that film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert led a successful campaign to remove it from the theaters because of the content. Admittedly, it's not an easy film to watch by any stretch of the imagination, but I wouldn't consider it complete trash like they did.
Jennifer (Camille Keaton, Buster Keaton's grand-neice) is a writer who goes to the country to write her first novel in peace and quiet. However, four rednecks have other ideas and, in one of the most brutal scenes put to film, rape her repeatedly. After recovering from her wounds, she gets her revenge.
Now the film, originally called "Day of the Woman" when it was released, is not the first film to deal with revenge. Before this, there was Wes Craven's "Last House on the Left," which involved the parents of a teenage murder victim getting revenge on her killers. The fact that the film had the victim getting the revenge over some second party might have made some people squeamish about the whole thing or pooh-pooh the concept of the film.
Yeah, the film is exploitive. The rape scene is at least 30 minutes long -- first she's raped in the woods, then in a wooded clearing, then in her cabin. But I wouldn't say the film encourages rape or makes it look "entertaining" -- quite the contrary. It is shown in its naked brutality, and shows the realities of rape. Director Mier Zarchi was allegedly inspired to make the film after seeing the aftermath of a woman on the street who had been raped and abused. Watching Jennifer go through what she goes through, you just want to cringe because of how brutal it is.
How she gets her revenge is not any less exploitive. She seduces two of the men, hanging one as he comes to climax and castrating the other one and allowing him to bleed to death while locked in a bathroom. She kills one with an axe to the back and manages to kill the fourth while he's stupidly perched on the outboard motor while talking to her.
It's not a movie I would recommend primarily because of the exploitive nature of it.
But it's not AS bad as people make it out to be. Camille Keaton's performance is actually pretty good, and took some bravery on her part. The four guys playing the rapists could use some work (in fact, going to imdb.com, neither of them acted in another film after this one) . And if you watch it, it's clearly told from the victim's point of view.
Again, can't really recommend it, but if you feel like you have to watch it, see if you can find the Millenium edition DVD, which contains two commentary tracks. One from director Mier Zarchi, and one from southern film critic of B-movies Joe Bob Briggs. Highly recommend the Joe Bob Briggs track.
Buy "I Spit on Your Grave" on DVD
posted by ScoopOnFilm @ 5:07 AM
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