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I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE
Blu-ray Edition
Review by Michael Jacobson
Stars:
Camille Keaton, Eron Tabor, Richard Pace, Anthony Nichols, Gunter
Kleemann
Director: Meir Zarchi
Audio: DTS HD 5.1
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Studio: Anchor Bay
Features: See Review
Length: 100 Minutes
Release Date: February 8, 2011
“You
come from an evil place.”
Film
***1/2 (on the Cult Scale)
Trying
to describe I Spit on Your Grave to the uninitiated is like grabbing
random adjectives from two separate bags: one
positive, one negative. One hand
pulls out words like deplorable, repulsive, and exploitive, while the other
comes up with others like original, harrowing, and uncompromising.
One criticism doesn’t diffuse another praise, nor vice versa.
I’ve
seen the picture a number of times over the years. It’s not the kind of film one can easily label as
“entertainment”. It’s hard to
watch, yet undeniably provocative. It
violates my biggest taboo probably worse than any film I’ve ever seen, which
is that I don’t like to see women getting hurt.
But seeing men who hurt women getting hurt themselves is another matter.
Even then, this movie’s final act is hard to cheer, because it
doesn’t flinch. It shows you what you think you want to see, only to make you
think that maybe it really wasn’t what you wanted to see after all.
In
a few brief strokes: I Spit on
Your Grave is about a New York City woman named Jennifer Hills (Keaton) who
rents a summer house in the country in order to work on her first novel.
While there, she attracts the attention of four redneck losers (one
actually a half wit), who horribly assault and rape her in a sequence that keeps
falsely pretending to be over, only to get worse and worse.
Left for dead but still alive, her body heals but her soul does
not…after visiting a church to ask forgiveness for what she’s about to do,
she turns the tables on her attackers one by one…none live to regret what they
did to her.
The
rape scenes are truly horrifying. They
earn the right to the equally gruesome revenge scenes, but those are hardly
cathartic. Every time I see this
picture, it’s a palate soiling experience for me as far as movie violence
goes, which is why I give it high marks, and why every so often, I have to come
back to it.
In
other words, it seems to deliberately combat the violence-as-entertainment
mentality so prevalent in today’s movies and TV. Like most movie lovers, I cheer when Schwarzenegger mows down
the bad guys. It’s fun.
But when Jennifer exacts her revenge, it’s more deserving but less
satisfying. The movie seems to
think that violence is horrible and distasteful, and nothing to celebrate no
matter what form it appears in. Imagine
that.
The
question must be asked…is Zarchi serving his own sadistic, perverted needs by
making the ultimate exploitation pic? I’ve
never been one to think so. In
fact, the story goes that Zarchi was affected in the early 70s by witnessing not
an actual rape, but the aftermath of one…how a young woman was traumatized
physically, mentally and emotionally by her brutal ordeal.
He then decided to make a movie that fully depicted the horror of rape.
Frankly, I don’t see how anyone could see this film and think that
anybody got pleasure from making it. I
especially can’t see, as some critics have argued, that the picture would
actually inspire rather than deter those who would abuse women. Do their comments actually say more about themselves than
they do Zarchi?
Nor
have I ever taken sides in the debate about whether this movie is sexist or
feminist. I don’t think it’s
either. There is no real statement
about the way men and women behave here. Most
men aren’t rapists…and frankly, who’s to say what anyone would do in
Jennifer’s situation, male or female?
What’s
done to her is unspeakably ugly and there’s no safety net for the audience.
To watch is almost to participate. We
get too close for comfort…yet what did we expect to see?
No one who saw the poster or the trailer could have any doubts about what
was going to be shown on screen (well, okay, the original tag line got the
number of men involved wrong by one, and none of them are dispatched by burning,
either).
I
think Camille Keaton gives an astoundingly powerful performance in this movie.
Some might condemn her for her career short-sightedness in making such a
picture, but I prefer to praise her for her courage.
A lot is asked of her, and a lot rides on her ability to sell some really
horrid sequences. At least she
fared better than her co-stars, most of whom never appeared in another film!
This
Blu-ray edition of I Spit on Your Grave ought to be enough fodder to
start the controversies all over again. Just
stay away from it unless you’re really willing to go all the way!
BONUS
TRIVIA: Camille Keaton is
actually the grand-niece of silent film comedian Buster Keaton!
Video
***1/2
Audio
***
For a movie with no
background music, this DTS HD offering still packs plenty of punch! There is
dynamic range, but mostly created from the quiet end instead of the loud end.
When things get silent, you’ll appreciate the eeriness coming from the
clean and noise-free track. Panning
effects are noticeable in several key scenes (particularly with the motorboat),
where the mix isn’t timid in bringing in the rear channels and the subwoofer. Dialogue is clear throughout, but maybe a little thin in
sound in comparison to the multi-channel effects.
High marks.
Features
****
This
is an extraordinary features package, starting with an unexpected
rarity…writer/director Meir Zarchi offers a commentary track!
Over the years, he’s remained mostly silent about his infamous picture,
but he comes clean and frank with his thoughts for this Blu-ray
release. He starts off by reading a
variety of quotes from critics and moviegoers that say pretty much everything
that can be said about the movie, good or bad, before introducing himself and
settling in to talk about the making of the movie…yes, and his motivations
behind it, as well.
It’s
a great treat, but there’s an even better commentary track included, featuring
cult movie collector and guru Joe Bob Briggs.
It’s about the funniest track I’ve had the pleasure of listening to
all year. He even teaches you to
say the title as “I Spit…On Your Grave” in order to sound like the
trailer!
Speaking of trailers, there are four of them on this disc, plus three TV spots and three radio spots. There is also a gallery of posters and cover art to peruse. Rounding out is a new look back on the film featuring Meir Zarchi as he reminisces on why and how he made the picture.
Summary:
To say I Spit on Your Grave isn’t for everybody is easily the understatement of the year. It’s a reviled film that probably has earned every bit of venom spewed its way over the years. But it’s also a film that’s easier to hate than it is to dismiss, because it dares to revoke the notion of violence as entertainment and replace it with…surprise…violence as violence.
