DVD Review: I Spit On Your Grave (B+)

I Spit On Your Grave (aka Day Of The Woman) (1978)
Directed by Meir Zarchi
Starring Camille Keaton, Eron Tabor, Richard Pace, Anthony Nichols
MPAA: R
Grade: B+

Review by Bobby Nashville

People always have a strong reaction to I Spit On Your Grave. Some hail it as a feminist masterpiece while others deride it as viciously degrading to women. Could both camps be right? Maybe so. I Spit On Your Grave is one of those movies that you will either love or hate, but you won't be bored.

Readers should note that this review has spoilers in it- but frankly, there's nothing in here that hasn't already been given away in the taglines or in the trailer of the film.

Still with me? Okay let's go.

Jennifer Hill (Camille Keaton, grand niece of Buster Keaton) is a writer from Manhattan that has rented a summer cottage in the woods of Connecticut. She's working on her novel and enjoying the weather when she is attacked and raped by four men. The violent nature of this attack has caused some controversy over the years as Keaton seems very believable and the scenes are not softened in any way. It's very brutal. Keaton does a great job showing Jennifer Hill's pain and in fact she won a Best Actress award from the Catalonian International Film Festival in Spain.

The twist here comes when Jennifer decides to exact her revenge. The same brutal beatings she endured are now given back to each of the four men, with her sparing no one. Before Thelma and Louise, there was Jennifer Hill. The powerful scenes in this film show her sparing no one, and frankly, who can really blame her? Its just payback time, and like the saying goes, payback's a bitch.

Does the fact that the female victim enjoys getting brutal revenge against her attackers make up for the crime that was committed against her? I'll leave that up to you to decide. I Spit On Your Grave is, without a doubt, one very interesting horror film that will leave you thinking.

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