John's Horror Banana-nanza Episode Fourty-Six: I Spit On Your Grave
My biggest problem with revenge movies is showcased full on in this film. If you're going to get revenge on someone, don't you want them to live with that revenge for the rest of their lives?
No. I guess you just want them to die. Maybe I'm just more sadistic than the woman in this movie, although I'm completely on her side throughout.
Jennifer is trying to relax upstate, so she can write a novel. Unfortunately, four rednecks who do pretty much whatever they want ruin the weekend by raping her viciously, for all the viewers to see. This is not fun, and it's not easy to get through.
And then things get worse.
The revenge she takes on these characters is brutal, but justly deserved. One of them is hung, another has his penis, um, modified. The rest are killed in other ways involving a boat and sharp instruments.
I mean, it is a good revenge flick. Really. Camille Keaton's character plays the severely damaged writer to perfection, and her anger is transmitted out to the viewer. The villains are sort of bland. You don't feel much for them other than hate, so you could say the movie had a distinct purpose and didn't deviate.
I just felt like there should be more. "The Hills Have Eyes" does a fantastic job of building up the characters, wrecking their world and then giving them just enough reason to fight back. In this movie, I wouldn't give two thoughts about Jennifer until she's raped. No one deserves rape, and again, I'm with her in the vengeance she claims, but her character wasn't built. She just showed up, was violated, and fought back.
Also, Camille Keaton eventually married the director of this movie, Mier Zarchi. Kind of odd that she'd be interested in someone who wanted to make this kind of movie, but to each their own, I suppose.
I only recommend this to someone with a stomach made of iron. Or a Video Nasties completest. Because as far as entertainment goes, forget it.