The Wake

I Spit on Your Grave (more accurately portrayed by its original title, Day of the Woman) has been one of the most controversial films in history. Siskel and Ebert did all in their power to have this 1978 film pulled from theaters. In England, among other countries, it was illegal at one point to own a copy of this film. People were actually jailed for this infraction. The film is still banned in Australia.

Why does so much controversy surround I Spit on Your Grave? The reason is because the film succeeds. It set out to show the absolute horror and ugliness of rape, to show how it can destroy a person (or at least as well as film can portray it). Director Meir Zarchi wished to accomplish this feat after he and a friend found a young woman who had just been raped in New York City. Zarchi and his friend aided her to the hospital, and the director was so affected by the pain and damage he saw in this bloodied and shocked woman, he had to convey the horror on-screen.

The story of I Spit on Your Grave is seen from the point of view of Jennifer Hill (Camille Keaton). She is a writer from New York who has come to the country to write her first novel. She is a strong and confident woman, but her life is quickly shattered. Three local men, led by local gas station owner, Johnny (Eron Tabor), decide that they will help their mentally-challenged friend Matthew (Richard Pace) lose his virginity. But these are not decent men who would help him find a nice girl to date and allow things to develop, they instead decide they will rob a woman for Matthew. This woman is Jennifer.

As Jennifer sits calmly in her canoe on the lake, the sound of an outboard motor can be heard. Stanley (Anthony Nichols) and Andy (Gunter Cleeman) arrive in their powerboat and chase Jennifer out of the water. The first assault begins as she is stripped and beaten. Johnny is the first rapist. She gets away shortly only to be attacked by Andy, as the others watch. This and all scenes of rape in the film are absolutely revolting. Keaton performs amazingly. She expresses such pain and horror. During the second attack she bellows the most blood curdling scream I have ever heard. As Jennifer walks back to her cabin, we see one of the most gut-wrenching sights committed to film. Jennifer is in absolute shock, no longer the same person, bloody, beaten, with glazed eyes. This, as the sight of the attacks makes the viewer sick, goes even further in showing the horror of rape to the viewer.

This is a film that was meant to show the true horror of rape and empower the victim it portrays. I Spit on Your Grave succeeds exceedingly well. I personally believe all adult persons should view this film; it truly creates an even greater empathy in viewers for those who have suffered such indignity. This is a film that through raw production (there is no external music, making it seem much more real) accomplishes that which it sets out to do. It avoids becoming exploitation as some have deemed it, and although there is nudity, none is by any stretch of the imagination pornographic. This film should profoundly affect you. It is a true classic of cinema.

I Spit on Your Grave has recently been reissued by Elite Entertainment in a Millennium edition with audio commentaries by cult film expert Joe Bob Briggs and director Meir Zarchi.