I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE
The survivor of a vicious gang rape turns the tables on her attackers in this remake of director Meir Zarchi's notorious 1978 horror classic. In order to seek inspiration for her next book, urbanite author Jennifer Hills (Sarah Butler) retreats to a secluded cabin in the woods. Little does Jennifer realize that she's just caught the attention of some particularly depraved locals, and her peaceful retreat is about to become a living hell. At first the sadistic intruders attempt to frighten Jennifer by breaking into her cabin, but then the attack gets out of hand. Desperate to escape after being badly brutalized, Jennifer throws herself into the river and allows her body to be carried away by the rapids. When her attackers fail to locate her corpse, they assume she is dead and return to their normal lives. But Jennifer isn't dead, and she doesn't forgive. Her attackers will pay for what they did, and nothing they say or do can prevent her from savaging them in the worst way imaginable before she sends them to hell screaming. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Director: Steven R. Monroe
Cast: Sarah Butler, Daniel Franzese, Jeff Branson, Chad Lindberg, Andrew Howard, Rodney Eastman
Release Date: Oct 08, 2010
Rated R for pervasive strong sadistic brutal violence, rape and torture, nudity and language
Runtime: 1 hr. 47 min.
Genres: Drama
Review:
The original I Spit on Your Grave is the type of movie that generally reviled by the most and while I can’t say I ever enjoyed it, I did get its significance in exploitation movie history. When word came down that it was being remade, the next left me kind of perplexed mainly because it’s not anything people had been clamoring for and because the original is such a product of it’s time. At this point in time most of the exploitative aspects of the film that made it shocking aren’t as shocking nowadays. The remake doesn’t shy away from the more repugnant aspect of the film, it’s is a rape revenge film after all but it doesn’t push the boundaries either. Hence when the film is over, you’re left wondering if the whole enterprise was a misguided attempt to capture something that can’t be captured anymore, the limits of excess have been routinely pushed over the last 30 years. As a film, the remake is an admirable attempt at beefing up a film which was never a perfect creation. Monroe succeeds in making the film more dense and a more rounded out experience. The cast is fairly consistent throughout with Butler doing most of the heavy lifting. Butler has an impressive ability to display strength and determination especially after the assault. The cast of redneck miscreants are solid if fairly clichéd, Andrew Howard has the most interesting role one which wasn’t in the original. The film though has a lot of flaws and the most glaring being serious gaps in logic and a nonsensical timeline. It’s a solid attempt to improve on the original but not by such a large degree that it validates its existence or necessity.
C
