I Spit on Your Grave

[Kevin Smith fan]

This truley is one of the most graphic, yet brilliant and underrated films of all time. While its easy to lump this in with the array of trashy b-movies spewed out in the late '70s (mainly due to the painfully bad acting), I Spit On Your Grave is much more than your typical straight to video slasher.

The imagery used by Director Meir Zarchi is absolutely genius in his potrayal of these four ruthless men's absolutely horrific encounters with Jennifer Hills. From Jennifer's painful and agonizying rape and beatings to her imminent revenge, everything here has more substance than pure entertainment. You can tell from Meir Zarchi's visuals on screen mixed with the plot. The acting does make it seem less meaningful, but if you can look past that you'll find yourself indulged in a brutal masterpiece. Things start slowly, but once things kick in- they don't let up, and its got an ending for the ages. Definitley worth the time of every horror fan out there.

85/100

[JJFlamingo]

Definitely a brutal classic...

8/10

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ohmigod it's Captain Jack Sparrow vs. Clyde Barrow!! Plus Dirk Diggler, Cruella De Vil, and MORE right now in the ULTIMATE ULTIMATE MOVIE CHARACTER TOURNAMENT!!!!

http://www.joblo.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2883481&posted=1#post2883481

[XCoRyX]

Its always weird saying,but it is somewhat of a small classic.

5.5/10

[Zizou]

2/10 although i'm tempted to follow Ebert and not give it anything.

the best efforts from one of the industry's worst directors.

[countchocula]

I agree with your assessment, Kevin Smith Fan, but this seems more fitting for the Past Horror forum.

I Spit On Your Grave is solid exploitation. The rape scenes didn't disturb me as much as they could/should have, though.

[LordSimen]

It's a severely underrated, beautifully done masterpiece that doesn't deserve the stigma it's gotten over the years. It's simply a gorgeous movie all around.

10/10

[g1ng3rsnap9ed]

Never seen this one,always wanted to.

[poopontheshoes7]

Not a film to watch with your parents. I felt like I needed a shower after watching this one. A very uncomfortable film, but one hell of a solid piece of exploitation. One of the best revenge films ever made as well.

[MisterTwister]

I think it's a wonderfully dirty yet beautiful looking film. If you feel dirty afterwards, it did its job.

I HATE how Ebert and others have said this film hates women. Far from it.

[JJFlamingo]

Well Ebert always blows a gasket when he sees what he perceives as gratuitous violence or exploitation against women, as with his "zero stars" critique of this or Mother's Day, or his one star review of Blue Velvet due mostly to his perception of how the Rossellini character was treated. The fact that he and others can't wrap their head around is that the entire FIRST HALF of the movie is the rape, but in the second half, you have the bathtub scene (tough to watch for even a decent man), and of course the sadistic manipulation and setup of the Matthew character. Granted, this movie is a surefire cure for ending any relationship you might want to get out of by showing it to the girl, but a bad movie this is not...:D

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ohmigod it's Captain Jack Sparrow vs. Clyde Barrow!! Plus Dirk Diggler, Cruella De Vil, and MORE right now in the ULTIMATE ULTIMATE MOVIE CHARACTER TOURNAMENT!!!!

http://www.joblo.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2883481&posted=1#post2883481

[JohnTravoltage]

I got this movie on VHS at FYE for 5$ and it's soo good. The bathtub scene makes me squirm every time I see it. 7/10

[Kevin Smith fan]

The rape scenes didn't disturb me as much as they could/should have, though.

With those four lead males making such goofy gestures throughout, its likely thats the closest any of them have been to having sex.

[LordSimen]

The fact that Ebert things the movie hates women is a clear sign that he didn't "get" the film in the first place. It loved women, a lot. The entire message was a feminist, pro-women, anti-rape message.

[Henry Lee Lucas]

I never understood his(eberts) disdain for I spit v.s. his love for last house...

Greeeatttt flick, havent seen it in ages though. I loved her putting the book back together, powerful shit.

[MisterTwister]

The fact that Ebert things the movie hates women is a clear sign that he didn't "get" the film in the first place. It loved women, a lot. The entire message was a feminist, pro-women, anti-rape message.

Exactly. After watching the film my exact words were "This film loves women but hates men!"

As a man, I don't mind. We are pigs.

I never understood his(eberts) disdain for I spit v.s. his love for last house...

Greeeatttt flick, havent seen it in ages though. I loved her putting the book back together, powerful shit.

Shit man, I forgot he dug Last House.

What the hell is wrong with him? Did he hate the fact the rape victim survived or something?

Who knows with Ebert. I've always found him to be an idiot.

[LordSimen]

Heck, flash forward to a couple years ago, Ebert praised The Devil's Rejects.

[poopontheshoes7]

Hell, I may disagree with Ebert about many things, but he's still one of my favorite critics. Despite his wishy-washy attitude for horror films, he always seemed to give every film a chance. He allowed himself to be entertained. He came across as a FAN of film and a critic second. Unlike Siskel, who pretty much didnt like anything that wasnt Oscar bait.

[jtwist78]

Not a film to watch with your parents. I felt like I needed a shower after watching this one. A very uncomfortable film, but one hell of a solid piece of exploitation. One of the best revenge films ever made as well.

This is a great way to describe my feelings after watching it for the first time (about 8 years ago). I'll have to give it another go round soon to see if my thoughts are any different.

[Henry Lee Lucas]

Hell, I may disagree with Ebert about many things, but he's still one of my favorite critics. Despite his wishy-washy attitude for horror films, he always seemed to give every film a chance. He allowed himself to be entertained. He came across as a FAN of film and a critic second. Unlike Siskel, who pretty much didnt like anything that wasnt Oscar bait.

Yea, I rarely agree with Ebert, but he knows whats going on. I gained so much respect for him after his commentary track on Dark City. The man knows what hes talking about, he just doesnt enjoy violence...

Hands down my biggest problem with his reviews is him bashing Batman for being style over substance, but praising Spawn for the same thing.

Oh and he has a problem with Cronenberg.

[MisterTwister]

I can see your reasons for liking Ebert but I still highly dislike the guy. I want to hit him in the face. I can agree he knows what he is talking about but still..."WHAM!"

[Cronos]

Long time since I saw this, should really dust off my DVD and give it a look, might give the commentary a look, always heard it's great.

The rapes weren't as shocking as they've always been made out to be, the acting was iffy in places too. Aside from those I really liked it, it was filmed well and rather graphic at times, I also remember the score being decent. Much better than Last House which always gets mentioned with it.

9/10

[MisterTwister]

Long time since I saw this, should really dust off my DVD and give it a look, might give the commentary a look, always heard it's great.

The rapes weren't as shocking as they've always been made out to be, the acting was iffy in places too. Aside from those I really liked it, it was filmed well and rather graphic at times, I also remember the score being decent. Much better than Last House which always gets mentioned with it.

9/10

There is no music score.

[Cronos]

There is no music score.
Hmmmm, strange as I remember there being one, but then again it has been 5+ years since I saw it.

[MisterTwister]

From IMDB:
The film has no music score. Director Meir Zarchi intended to add some library music to his film, but found none that was suitable, so the only music we hear in the film comes from the church organ, a snatch of Giacomo Puccini on record, background music in the store and a few stray riffs from Johnny's harmonica.

You probably made up a score in your head. I do that sometimes when I watch a movie.

[Cronos]

It's possible, wouldn't be the first time I've remembered hearing something in a film which wasn't there when I came to seeing it again. Did some reading up on it earlier since my disc is boxed up somewhere, seemed he went more with sounds of nature, birds, wind in the trees etc, I might have taken that as being the films "soundtrack".

So after I've found and given it another watch would either of the commentaries be worth a listen, I've heard Briggs' is good but not much about Meir's?

[MisterTwister]

It's possible, wouldn't be the first time I've remembered hearing something in a film which wasn't there when I came to seeing it again. Did some reading up on it earlier since my disc is boxed up somewhere, seemed he went more with sounds of nature, birds, wind in the trees etc, I might have taken that as being the films "soundtrack".

So after I've found and given it another watch would either of the commentaries be worth a listen, I've heard Briggs' is good but not much about Meir's?

Both commentary tracks are great. Meir's track is engaging and very informative. I recommend a listen to both.

[IamNoOne666]

Love this movie, not one I pop in a lot though. Agree with what ever says about Ebert's review also. Brigg's commentary is great. defiantly worth listening too. This was the first Meir Zarchi film I saw, I blind bought Don't Mess With My Sister and was heavily disappointed. But I Spit On Your Grave is easy 8.5/10