I Spit On Your Grave (1978)

Happy to finally have this on dvd.

BASED ON A TRUE STORY. THIS LATE 1970'S FILM IS ABOUT A WOMAM WHO WAS RAPED AND TORTURED BY A GROUP OF HIPPIES THEN LEFT HER TO DIE. BUT LOOK OUT... SHE COMES BACK WITH A VENGENCE. PERSONLY IN MY OPINION, SHE DID WHAT SHE HAD TO DO. LET'S FACE IT, SHE WAS GANG-RAPED, TORTURED AND THEN LEFT TO DIE. ONE REVIEWER SAID THAT SHE SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN THE GAS CHAMBER FOR KILLING THOSE MEN. WELL I WILL SAY THIS IN HER DEFENSE. IN SOME WAYS SHE DID THE RIGHT THING. SHE REALLY HAD NO CHOICE. 1 WHAT IF THEY MAY HAVE CAME BACK WEEKS OR MONTHS LATER A TRIED IT AGAIN, 2. WHAT IF THE MEN DID THIS TO SOME OTHER WOMAN. THAT'S WHERE I HAVE LEARNED IN ONE RESPECT... YOU DON'T MESS WITH WOMEN LIKE THAT. IF YOU HURT THEM, IN SOME CASES THEY WILL KILL YOU. IT IS THAT SIMPLE. I SAT AND WATCHED THIS MOVIE, THESE ANIMALS RAPE AND TORURE THIS HELPLESS WOMAN WHO WAS A VICTUM FROM THE MOMENT THIS SICK INCIDENT HAPPENED. SHE DID NOT DESERVE TO BE TREATED LIKE THAT. AND SPEAKING AS A REAL MAN... WHICH I AM. THE STORIES AGAINST HER AND ABOUT HER ARE PURE SICK AND PURE PUKE. AND AFTER WATCHING THIS MOVIE. SHE SEEMED TO BE A REALLY NICE KIND GENTLE WOMAN WAS PRUTALLY ROBBED FOR NOTHING. TO THESE SICK MEN WHO DID THIS TO THAT WOMAN... IT WAS A PARTY THAT WAS NOT FUN AT ALL. TO THIS INNOCENT WOMAN... IT WAS GREAT JUSTICE. AND IF SHE HADN'T THE MONSTERS WOULD HAVE DONE THIS TO ANOTHER WOMAN. I AM AGAINST VIOLENCTS. BUT UNDER THESE CONTITIONS OF THE BRUTALITY, THIS IS ONE MOVIE THAT GUYS WILL THINK TWICE ABOUT EVER RAPING OR TORURING A WOMAN AGAIN. THERE WAS NO RESPECT FOR THIS WOWMAN WHATS SO EVER. SHE WAS ON HER WAY TO WRITTING HER FIRST BOOK WHEN THIS HAPPENED. THIS GOES OUT TO THE REAL LIFE WOMAN. I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THIS. THIS WAS WRONG AND THSES MEN PAIED THE ULTIMATE PRICE, AND THEY DESERVED WHAT THEY GOT. SURE, THERE IS VIOLENTS IN WOMEN. I HAVE SEEN IT. BUT IN THIS CASE THIS WAS A MEANS FO PROTECTING HERSELF AND OTHER WOMEN. AND POSSIBLY MEN, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND I REALLY DOUBT THAT ONE. SHE WAS THE JUSTICE. THAT'S IT. IT CERTAINLY MADE ME THINK TWICE ABOUT EVER DOING SOMETHING LIKE THAT. I WOULD NOT DO THAT KIND OF THING ANYWAY. PLEASE UNDERSTAND... THOSE MEN WOULD HAVE DONE THIS TO SOMEBODY ELSE IF SHE DID NOT KILL THIS MEN. QUITE FRANKLY, SHE WON IN THE END. ALTHOUGH VERY EXTREME... THIS WAS AND IS A WOMAN NO MAN WILL EVER MESS WITH EVER AGAIN.

This one, along with Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, is one of the most provocative cinematic experiences I have undergone. Revile it for its crudity and flinch at its relentless violence, but you'd have to admit this film succeeds all the way in provoking some kind of response from its audience.Personally I find I Spit on Your Grave much less exploitative than it could have been. Firstly, take into account that the entire story is filmed from a neutral perspective while privileging the point of view of Jennifer. Secondly, note its subtle but deeply angered treatment at how a good-hearted, friendly woman is destroyed, reborn as a sadistic avenger lacking in heart and painfully unaware of what she's become. The final shot is simple brilliance, a more apt observation on Jennifer's character change and saying much more than a direct, moralizing title card could have (eg. Howard Hawks' Scarface).Finally, this film's most commendable (and perhaps contentious) point is its treatment of the men, the perpetrators of the original crime. Although animalistic in their brutality and at times grotesquely macho, the men's overall portrayal does not relegate them to pure villainy. We see moments of vulnerability, humanity (Stanley's relationship to Johnny is especially fascinating, thanks to Aron Tabor's multilayered performance) and even sympathy. None of which excuses them from their crime, as the film watches their humiliation and destruction with as unflinching an eye as it had Jennifer's suffering at their hands.This is essential viewing for anybody interested in feminism in film, and the rape-revenge genre. (Both The Accused and the lesser-known French drama L'Amour Viole/The Rape of Love borrowed liberally from I Spit on Your Grave's stance on male bonding and gang rape.) People interested in analyzing this film can also refer to Carol Clover's Men, Women and Chain Saws, which contains one of the few fair-minded assessments of this film untainted by the controversy of the film's social context.Once you're prepared for the violence and extreme human behaviour in this film, you'll find much to think about.