Suggested Viewing from

Jim's Real Detroit Column 9/23/99

Director Meir Zarchi is pretty much known for just one film, his maim and mutilation revenge opus I Spit on Your Grave (1977). It is the story of a vacationing woman who is raped and brutalized by four yokel losers, and was labeled by Siskel and Ebert as the “most disgusting movie ever made.” It was also implied that it would cause some lowlife’s to think rape was fun. If you’re a man, and your idea of a good time is to have your balls violently removed just before being sent to the grave, that may be the case. More likely, you will be totally repulsed by the actions of the four men and realize that the deviants are getting exactly what they deserve. Camille Keaton plays Jennifer, a New York woman who rents a cabin in the woods where she plans to write her first novel. When the village idiot takes a liking to her, he and three of friends descend upon the cabin with evil intent. The violent rapes take up the next half hour of the film, and it is this extended scene that some critics felt gratuitous and made light of rape. In reality the unflinching and graphic portrayal of her horror, combined with the total repulsiveness of the attackers, ensure that our sympathy will remain with Jennifer for the rest of the film, no matter what methods she may employ to exact her revenge (including the excruciating bathtub castration as well as another testicular removal by outboard motor). Eron Tabor turns in an incredible sleazeball performance as Johnny, the woman-hating instigator of the group, who makes it perfectly clear that rape is an act of violence--he gives one of the dopiest redneck speeches ever as he explains how he was “forced” to rape Jennifer.

The low-budget cinematography makes for a splatter-film feel, but I Spit on Your Grave is more than that. It’s one of best feminist-revenge movies ever made. The theme of a “weak” woman being victimized to the extreme and then becoming strong enough to personally mete out justice is very common in horror films. Several years later, Clint Eastwood’s Sudden Impact followed a similar theme as Dirty Harry met his female counterpart in Sandra Locke as she hunts down, castrates (by bullet), and kills the men who had raped her sister. Though entirely different in their handling of the subject, the same tale is told. However, most would better stomach the latter. The film’s tag line says it all: “This woman just chopped, burned, maimed, and mutilated four men beyond recognition--and no jury in the world would convict her.” Despite the viciousness of Jennifer’s actions, you wouldn’t either.

Archives

Comments or Questions? Send Jim an E-mail