I Spit on Your Grave (1978) Blu-ray Review from Anchor Bay Entertainment!
Day of the Woman (Meir Zarchi’s original title for I Spit on your Grave) from 1978 lives in infamy as one of the most, if not the most extreme and well-known rape-revenge films to ever tarnish the silver screen. To coincide with the Blu-Ray release of the 2010 remake, Anchor Bay Entertainment delivers an incredible Blu-Ray of one notorious horror film.
I Spit on your Grave commences with Jennifer Hills (Camille Keaton, Sella Turcica) making her way to a cabin in the countryside where she plans to write her first novel. Immediately after arriving at her destination of novelist solitude, she disrobes and takes a dip in the lake on the property. Thus begins the film’s titillating yet unavoidably disturbing storyline.
Settling right in, Jennifer sunbathes in a hammock overlooking the serene lakefront and attempts to get some work done on her book. This is thwarted by some rowdy local men who speed around the lake in a motorboat. Later on when the antics die down, she goes for a canoe ride. The men return to escalate the tomfoolery and terrorize her further by circling her canoe in their speedboat, dragging her along the open water. This solidifies the debauchery which is to follow with almost a half hour of rape and degradation.
What makes the infamous rape scene exceedingly ruthless is that the boys let her crawl back to her cabin of solace, to return shortly thereafter for round two. This is where the other two males continue their fun (one of whom is retarded.) With one of the remaining men, Jennifer pleads in a chilling scene “Please, I’m hurt. I’ll do it to you with my hand. You’ll like it, you’ll see.” He responds by kicking the shit out of her rather than raping her. Which leaves the question, what’s worse? This comprehensive rape sequence makes for one of the most, if not the most brutal hard to stomach rape sequences ever committed to film.
After the men have their exhaustive way with their victim they exit the cabin but send Matthew-the-retard back to seal the deal. The ringleader gives the “half idiot” a knife to kill Jennifer. Once back inside to the scene of the crime he can’t commit. Instead he returns to the creeps with the knife smeared with some of her blood, claiming the deed has indeed been executed.
Next, we follow Jennifer as she endures the recuperation process. Over time she actually moves forward and continues onward with her novel. However, Jennifer has more than her novel in store. It wouldn’t be a rape-revenge film without vicious retribution. One by one Jennifer hunts down her offenders. Using her sexuality to lure them in, she leaves a bloody trail of bodies behind her.
Most horror films rely far too heavily on a musical score to evoke horror; to blindly tell the viewer with a blare of music that “it’s time to feel scared.” I Spit on your Grave is devoid of music. It relies purely on the direction of the film and its visuals to eviscerate the viewer.
Shooting I Spit on your Grave must have been grueling for Camille Keaton, not to mention the rest of the cast and crew. While both playing the role of the victim and victor, Keaton exhibits her true strengths as an actress. One notable scene in which I particularly love contains neither the rape nor the revenge. This particular scene depicts Jennifer as she goes to a church to pray for her forgiveness (for the violence that is to come).
Meir Zarchi claims the film is a film that empowers women. His original title Day of the Woman suggests this. However, Zarchi’s sentiments are only half right. I Spit on your Grave does empower the character of Jennifer after she is able to recover from her mass violation, and how she ultimately responds with vengeance. However it is the ultimate exploitation film because I Spit on your Grave sets out to titillate the viewer as much as it does to perturb. Whether Zarchi admits to this or not is another story. Regardless of Zarchi’s intent, Day of the Woman is a favorite of mine and any like-minded exploitation fan. It stands the test of time as being one of the best pieces of exploitation cinema out there.
Anchor Bay Entertainment brings I Spit on your Grave to Blu-ray (as well as DVD) 1080p with a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation. The disc is 50GB with a MPEG-4 AVC and looks great for a 33-year-old exploitation film. The only video downfall is that a few night scenes showcase incredibly flickery digital noise. The audio is presented English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 with option English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing. The audio is soft in places but is more than sufficient. The supplemental features are plentiful here beginning with audio commentaries from writer/director Meir Zarchi as well as Joe Bob Briggs. There is an informative interview with Zarchi called ‘The Values of Vengeance: Meir Zarchi Remembers I Spit on your Grave’ which runs 29-minutes. This release also contains a ‘Poster & Stills Gallery’, Radio Spots’, ‘TV Spots’, ‘Trailers’ and an ‘Alternative Main Title’ sequence for Day of the Woman. While these extras are great, it would have been nice if this release included an in-depth interview with Camille Keaton.
AKA: Day of the Woman
Directed by: Meir Zarchi | Written by: Meir Zarchi | Produced by: Meir Zarchi, Joseph Zbeda | Cinematography by: Nouri Haviv | Editing by: Meir Zarchi | Special Effects by: Beriau Picard, William Tasgal | Cast: Camille Keaton, Eron Tabor, Richard Pace, Anthony Nichols, Gunter Kleemann | Year: 1978 | Country: USA | Language: English | Color: Color | Runtime: 1h 41min
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
BLU-RAY SPECS:
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 16×9 1080p MPEG-4 AVC
Region: A
Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL:
– Audio Commentary by writer/director Meir Zarchi
– Audio Commentary by Joe Bob Briggs
– The Values of Vengeance: Meir Zarchi Remembers I Spit on your Grave
– Poster & Stills Gallery
– Radio Spots
– TV Spots & Trailers
– Alternate Main Title Sequence