DVD review: ‘I Spit On Your Grave’

Reviewed by: Harrison Cheung

You might have thought that with the popularity of SAW and HOSTEL movies, hyper gore and violence flicks are the invention of this past decade. But in fact, these kind of movies have been around for a long time.

The 1978  I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE was a sexploitation movie promoted as female empowerment. A young woman is gang raped but survives to wreak terrible vengeance on her attackers. Remarkably similar in plot to Wes Craven’s 1972 LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (aka DAY OF THE WOMAN) was banned and subsequently attained cult status.

This remake is surprisingly not as gory as a SAW or HOSTEL though it uses cuts to video camera footage as a nod to more recent horror fare like PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and BLAIR WITCH.

The story is essentially the same. Young Jennifer Hill rents a little cabin in the woods so that she can work on her novel. Her city ways rub the guys at the local gas station the wrong way, so they show up to attack her. Left for dead, Jennifer strikes back with torture and punishment to fit the crime.

For most people who’ve never seen the 1978 original, this remake does a competent paint-by-numbers job at following the torturous journey of our young heroine and barely avoids the urge of adding pithy dialogue though the gas jockeys do lean on the DELIVERANCE/TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE Southern Gothic side. For every type of assault Jennifer endured, she returns the favor in spades.

Sarah Butler – a relative newcomer – stars as Jennifer Hill with all the grim determination of a young Sigourney Weaver, while YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS star (and Eric Dane lookalike) Jeff Branson plays her lead tormentor with creepy charm.

The movie drags at the beginning and looks and feels like a tight budget indie project, unlike the slick 2009 remake of LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. Gore fans may feel cheated, but horror fans should be pleased that a cult film has been brought up to date.