Amazon.co.uk Review
I Spit on Your Grave, writer-director Meir Zarchi's controversial story of rape and revenge, has lost none of its ability to shock viewers since it first gained notoriety in 1978. Camille Keaton (grand-niece of Buster Keaton and, later, Zarchi's wife) stars as a young woman who is terrorised and then brutally assaulted by four men while on vacation. After slowly pulling herself together, she methodically tracks down and butchers each of the perpetrators. Zarchi's film has been consistently accused of celebrating violence against women, and while the rape scenes are graphic, they also lack the voyeuristic qualities that earmark other similarly plotted exploitation films. If anything, Zarchi is guilty of awkward scripting; the dialogue is leaden, and Keaton's transformation from victim to avenger is too swift. But to label him a pornographer is wrong, and while the film is challenging--perhaps more than most audiences can bear--its depiction of the psychology of violence is undeniably powerful. --Paul Gaita
Amazon.co.uk Review
I Spit on Your Grave, writer-director Meir Zarchi's controversial story of rape and revenge, has lost none of its ability to shock viewers since it first gained notoriety in 1978. Camille Keaton (grand-niece of Buster Keaton and, later, Zarchi's wife) stars as a young woman who is terrorised and then brutally assaulted by four men while on vacation. After slowly pulling herself together, she methodically tracks down and butchers each of the perpetrators. Zarchi's film has been consistently accused of celebrating violence against women, and while the rape scenes are graphic, they also lack the voyeuristic qualities that earmark other similarly plotted exploitation films. If anything, Zarchi is guilty of awkward scripting; the dialogue is leaden, and Keaton's transformation from victim to avenger is too swift. But to label him a pornographer is wrong, and while the film is challenging--perhaps more than most audiences can bear--its depiction of the psychology of violence is undeniably powerful. --Paul Gaita
Customer Reviews:
Good - but thought it was going to be better.......2008-03-11
After seeing this film mentioned almost everywhere when looking into video nasty films, i though i would give it a shot, so ordered the region 1 dvd(always better)..i dont get offended by films really, i just crap myself at things like the grudge!!so anyway the first thing ull do is whack the sound right up on the Tele as the sound isnt brilliant, but then again it is an old film..the camera work is pretty good for the age of the movie..im trying to pick a bit of the film that shocked me, but to be honest i cant, but dont watch if easily offended..
Overall it was a good watch!!
woah!.......2008-01-16
though this is another grotesque film i actually enjoyed it more than last house on the left. i liked it because the woman takes revenge and they barely ever do in horror films and that annoys me!!she's a really interesting character and thats one of the reasons y i liked the film!apart from that i would'nt recommend it, but at the same time i think its a film you have to see anyway....
After Waiting 30 years to watch it................2007-11-18
I decided to get the region 1 version which i assume is uncut... I have read many reviews on amazon etc. Iam a 70's / 80's horror / Slasher fan and loved the last house on the left.. So , was this as what i thought it would be? Well, not really, the problem i found with it was that the woman in it didnt seem to try and put up much of fight as towhat was being done to her... Some of the scenes were a little disturbing but nothing that really shocked me.. And i liked the idea of the revenge's on the 4 men but it didnt seem to have any impact.. As i said, i am sure i have the uncut version but it just didnt seem very graphic in the death scenes... I found the last house on the left to be a very simular film but by far better... It somehow felt real which this didnt.. Dont let me put you off though as it worth watching, i just dont think i would watch it again!!!And one athoer thing.... Where was the 70's music ? !!
Times change...thank goodness........2007-08-13
Poor woman. I have only watched the heavily cut version and that was enough for me. I am so glad the the film industry has largely given up on depicting rape as an entertainment.
Having said that. This film is still total floss. The seriously injured victim never even goes to hospital. And it's gross how she entices those neanderthals that harmed her just two weeks after their crimes.
The only interesting parts of the film are how all the men deny responsibility; that having learning disabilities is no excuse for violence and that dressing 'provocatively' still means that a female should be treated with respect because the provocation is all in the mind of the perp.
So maybe this film should be required viewing for the British judiciary.
The really weird thing is that in the UK revenge vigilantes get longer prison sentences than rapists. So really the woman loses twice over. Work that one out.
Uncut...unfortunately........2006-12-28
Some films have a reputation that is justified - `Clockwork Orange', for example, which still hits hard even today, for the coldness and detached objectivity with which its notorious violence erupts onscreen.
Some films gain a reputation that is inversely proportional to their actual content - `the Exorcist' being the most obvious example I could think of. At least, until I sat down to watch this; allegedly `shocking', `important', `socially relevant', `magnificent' motion picture.
Except that it's a dirty little sexploitation schlock number that would have deservedly sank without trace decades ago, but for the outraged bleatings of a few angry critics, and some strange individuals with clearly some perverted sense of reality who try to justify this as a `feminist' picture. Any woman who can suffer the first hour of this turgid, talentless display of ineptitude deserves a medal, and any man who can sit to the end without howling with laughter at the pathetic male characters isn't worthy of the name.
I don't think I've seen so many talentless actors together in one film, but I suppose useless, untrained wooden artistes were all that would actually wish to appear in such an effort. The leading lady, while gorgeous to look at, does her best with the "script" but ultimately shows why she spent her minimal career floundering around the plughole end of European Grade Z slasher garbage. So much for being related to the legendary Buster Keaton!
The first half of the picture succesfully exploits the idea of rape as a hardcore porn experience. Plenty of screaming, macho close-ups, submissive female poses. Which, as sexual psychology tells us, some men (and even some women) do find secretly exciting - any casual examination of the S & M scene will prove this. And clearly the director finds it exciting, too, as we have our unlucky heroine abused not once, but thrice, just in case we didn't get the point first time around, or didn't understand what rape actually entailed. So having put the female character through such hell for so long, do the male abusers receive an equal amount of torment before they're slaughtered? Don't be ridiculous!
The second half trivialises the revenge motif to a ludicrous extent, contriving ever more unbelievable situations in which the rapists can be dispatched; plot, suspense and characterization are zero to begin with, and quickly descend into negative values hereafter.
There's no glory or sense of vengeance done, just utter disbelief in the mind of the viewer that any man with an IQ above single figures would allow himself to get into that spot in the first place. So after dehumanizing females in its first forty minutes, the film then denigrates males just as effectively - an utterly degrading, foul, and unsatisfying spectacle for all who can bear to watch this to the end. Having known several women in my life who have suffered sexual abuse, I find this all the more offensive. I can't think of either of them finding this cathartic, satisfying, or exciting. Nor can I see any man wanting to identify with the 4 retarded neanderthals.
So why would I, for one, care to watch this in the first place? To see if it was what it was cracked up to be. To see how this important, socially relevant film would change my life, and make me consider sexual attitudes and my own views towards them, as many reviewers seem convinced it will. To challenge my own conscience, and sense of what is acceptable viewing, to push myself to my limit. To see if a film made 30 years ago still has the power to shock and offend that it is alleged to possess. To experience a little of the thrill of the transgressive, to view something which the authorities in this country have refused to be made viewable in its full form to this day - to watch an uncut, notorious `video nasty' from end to end. They really needn't have bothered. Most average filmgoers will be well asleep before anything even remotely controversial occurs - the rest will either be repelled, offended, or numbed. Those that aren't will already be huge fans of `Death Wish 3' and `Dirty Weekend', and will get from this film exactly what they had hoped for; naked breasts, a little bit of blood, chicks with guns, and hilarious Grand Guignol overacting.
The sad thing is, it could have been a decent enough picture, had it been directed by someone with even a vaguest hint of cinematic talent. There are moments of promise in there. Some of the shots and angles are actually quite interesting, some of the camerawork effective in a raw, maverick kind of way. The lack of music and sound effects on the score is a good notion, very badly realised, as the actual soundtrack mix is so low and badly arranged it hardly seems worth playing it in stereo. In fact, the stilted dialogue and corny acting hardly makes it worth even turning up the volume. It's not like there's a complex, metaphysical plot unfolding which you will miss out on. In fact, do yourself a favour; ignore this boring, sordid little piece of tat and go and watch Polanski's `Death & the Maiden' instead. Now that has some artistic credentials, is more satisfying, and produced by people who know how to make a film. Overall I would rate this film somewhere between the best work of Ed Wood, and the `Blair Witch' - and that's no compliment.
Amazon.co.uk Review
I Spit on Your Grave, writer-director Meir Zarchi's controversial story of rape and revenge, has lost none of its ability to shock viewers since it first gained notoriety in 1978. Camille Keaton (grand-niece of Buster Keaton and, later, Zarchi's wife) stars as a young woman who is terrorised and then brutally assaulted by four men while on vacation. After slowly pulling herself together, she methodically tracks down and butchers each of the perpetrators. Zarchi's film has been consistently accused of celebrating violence against women, and while the rape scenes are graphic, they also lack the voyeuristic qualities that earmark other similarly plotted exploitation films. If anything, Zarchi is guilty of awkward scripting; the dialogue is leaden, and Keaton's transformation from victim to avenger is too swift. But to label him a pornographer is wrong, and while the film is challenging--perhaps more than most audiences can bear--its depiction of the psychology of violence is undeniably powerful. --Paul Gaita
UK DVD:
- Ju-On - The Grudge [2003]
- Lake Placid 2 [2007]
- Lifeforce [1985]
- Masters Of Horror - Series 1 - Vol.2 [2005]
- Masters Of Horror Series 1 Volume 1 [2005]
- Nosferatu The Vampyre [1979]
- Poltergeist III [1988]
- Pulse [2006]
- Rabid [1977]
- Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles [1980] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
UK DVD List
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