I Spit on Your Grave:
Millenium Edition DVD
Elite Entertainment
Review by Greg Kessler
Originally titled Day of the Woman, I Spit on Your Grave is one of the giants of cult horror. I doubt there was a movie in the early days of video rental that was rented by more high school males than I Spit on your Grave. In terms of graphic nudity, there have been few movies that come close. I must admit to being one of those high school kids (having rented the movie several times around 1983) but at the time I could not get past the graphic nudity and striking violence. The other day I got a new chance to watch the Millennium Edition of I Spit on Your Grave and for the first time I think I got it.
I Spit on Your Grave concerns a female writer who rents a secluded cabin in which she can finish her novel. What this lady neglected to inquire about when she rented the cabin was whether this particular town had any part in constructing the Deliverance myth and the reputation of hillbillies as rapist maniacs. Unfortunately for her, this is something that she should have asked. Not long after she settles into her new digs, she is raped and beaten repeatedly by five local psychos. Unlike most movies of this ilk, the story does not end there. She is not rescued by a gallant member of the community. No, Jennifer (that being her name) takes matters into her own hands and proceeds to emasculate at least two of her attackers and kills the rest in equally horrible ways.
This may sound like your typical slasher flick but in a commentary by the director, Meir Zarchi, he explains that this was an attempt to show how a woman under attack can be empowered to be her own savior. This commentary by Zarchi, who has give only one interview in the last twenty years, is almost as disconcerting as the movie itself. After years of thinking of this movie as a high school kids only chance to see tatas, he actually explains the philosophical reason behind the hideous scenes. It’s kind of like discovering that there is a greater purpose to Star Wars (beyond allowing George Lucas to own most of the world). The second audio gift the folks at Elite have provided is a rip snorting commentary by cult movie hero Joe Bob Briggs (if you don’t know who he is, you can rent Casino and watch for the big dope that De Niro fires for screwing up the slots). Briggs’ commentary is really more of what you are looking for in a running monolog for a movie like I Spit on your Grave.
There are also the normal additions to DVD’s. We get to see some amazing trailers that you cannot imagine seeing on TV even today. You also get:
Radio Spots
Art work from around the world
Reviews from the premier
And oh yeah, lots of nakedness, most disconcerting as much of it is male.
This movie is just what you have always heard is was, intense and completely out of the norm. You are not sure how to react to most of the movie, and unlike many films labeled CULT, this movie looses none of it punch over time. Elite has done an amazing job at restoring the film. The transformation from the old VHS prints that I remember renting at Dave’s Movies and More in Granite City, all washed out and fuzzy, to the pristine look of this Millennium edition really makes this a must buy. Elite is famous for giving films like this a second chance, in all the remastered glory they deserve. Pick this up and make sure to check out the rest of their reissues on the web site (they even reissued Re-Animator — just for me I’m sure).