♥♥♥♥
+ Best Rape-and-Revenge Movie of the Year
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| Genital injury by rusty garden shears is the unmistakable indication on this effective poster for Steven R. Monroe's I Spit on Your Grave |
Jennifer
Hills goes alone to a forest house to begin work on her next novel, but
she encounters some unreciprocated male interest in the area already
before arriving.
I Spit on Your Grave is written by Adam Rockoff (Reporting for Christmas (2023)) and directed by Steven R. Monroe (The Contract (1999)). It is a remake of Meir Zarchi's Day of the Woman/I Spit on Your Grave (1978), (Zarchi acts as an executive producer on it), this is a classic rape-and-revenge horror film. For those ignorant to the subgenre, these are generally films that contain the rape of a woman in the first part of the film, often including torture and humiliation, and then in the second part of the film, the woman takes her bloody revenge over her violators, often involving at least one castration and generally following the credo; 'an eye for the entire head.'
As for I Spit on Your Grave being a good date movie, as its poster above suggests, it may work if you want your date to leave, or if you just want to be uncomfortable with your date for about an hour and forty-five pretty long minutes. (And who doesn't want that...?)
The genre is said to have been started by none other than towering, cinematic master director Ingmar Bergman with his Virgin Spring/Jungfrukällan (1960), one of his best and most overlooked films. The rape-and-revenge films evoke something emotionally primitive in most audiences; after partaking in the sufferings of the protagonist at first, many rejoice in her following killing spree. Others sympathize more with the men.
When the attack in the film starts, it lasts long, and it is very realistic and hard to watch, (although we 'only' really witness one of the rapes.) Most of it is psychological torture, intimidation and humiliation. Then when the tables finally turn, Jennifer also takes her time in meting out her justice. Her creativity is for the task seems endless, and it is clear in these scenes that the world of horror is now post Saw (2004) and other equally graphic torture films. The killings are sadistic and not a little ingenious also, although admittedly sick. The methods shall go undescribed here.
The acting in Grave is actually outstanding. No one delivers anything less than a believable performance, which is remarkable due to the intense and uncomfortable nature of the film. Especially Sarah Butler (The Stranger Within (2013)) as Jennifer plays her part with strength and emotional power; and Andrew Howard (Boardwalk Empire, TV-series (2013)), who plays the threatening, violent psychopath sheriff, and does a very scary and convincing job at that.
Rape-and-revenge films are obviously not for everyone. The late movie critic legend Roger Ebert watched both versions of I Spit on Your Grave and gave them both zero stars. He wrote that the new one is merely the "despicable remake of the despicable 1978 film." His film philosophy more or less commanded him to hate the entire subgenre. So if you have a weak stomach like Ebert had, and think that all movies should make us better individuals, then do yourself a favor, and don't see I Spit on Your Grave. With the title in mind, I can't really feel bad for people who 'mistakenly' watch it anyway.
Some have defended the subgenre as a valve for letting out steam, so that we can accept the primitively speaking unsatisfying verdicts passed down to rapists in our societies, because at least in these films, the bastards get what they deserve.
Anyway you look at it, the new I Spit on Your Grave is a surprisingly good remake, and an intense, 'refreshing' rape-and-revenge movie.
In fact, it is better than the original: Zarchi's film had some technical and acting disadvantages, plus some confusion built into it: It was titled Day of the Woman, and most audiences will find themselves on the woman's (played by Zarchi's then wife Camille Keaton) side throughout the film. But it also has sensationalist pre-titles about how shocking it is that a woman carrying out this kind of revenge would be acquitted for her crimes from many courts in the States. This dubious 'fact' seems to rule the film in favor of the (rapist) men.
The new Grave doesn't have these explicit ambiguities, (but will still leave many people ambiguous as to who's right, or rather, who of its parties are least in the wrong.) Its acting and effects are also superior to the original's.
It is weakest in its beginning, where Jennifer is very clumsy, which mainly comes off as clumsy writing, and I also had some doubts as to believing that she is a writer. Had it merely been her law thesis or something else like that, which she had taken with her to the house to finish, I would have probably bought it immediately. But a novel?
The MPAA advised the filmmakers to not cut the film down, because it was 'impactful', which is a piece of advice given from the censoring organization that I have never heard of before. The filmmakers did release the film uncut and unrated, which means a 'purer' cinema experience, but that fewer cinemas will show the film.
Because of the low budget, the actors did their own stunts for the film, (save for two falling stunts), and real, empty guns were used, chipping a tooth on one of the actors in one scene.
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Cost: 2 mil. $
Box office: 1.2 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.6 times its cost)
[I Spit on Your Grave premiered 1 May (Texas Frightmare Weekend) and runs 108 minutes. Shooting took place from November 2009 - July 2010 in Louisiana. It opened #55 to a 32k $ first weekend in 12 theaters in North America, where it topped out at #43 and grossed 93k $ (7.8 % of the total gross). Its 3 biggest markets were Mexico with 328k $ (27.3 %), Peru with 222k $ (18.5 %) and Brazil with 150k $ (12.5 %). Like the original, the film likely grew profitable as a home video release. Roger Ebert gave it a 0/4 star review, translating to 4 notches under this one. 3 sequels followed, the first by Monroe, I Spit on Your Grave 2 (2013), and the latest (from 2019), by Zarchi. Monroe returned first with Mongolian Death Worm (2010, TV movie), Jabberwock (2011, TV movie) and theatrically with Complacent (2012). Butler returned in The Philly Kid (2012). I Spit on Your Grave is rotten at 31 % with a 4.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of I Spit on Your Grave?
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