Unveiling the Gory Mess of the Rape-Revenge Return ‘I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu!’
“You psycho bitch! You’re sicker than your mother! You’re sicker!”
Now that is a quote and a half! Mind you, I cannot, off the top of my head, think of another movie recently that, after such anticipation was absolutely annihilated by critics and fans worldwide as much as I Spit on your Grave: Deja Vu. I watched it when it first came out and, to be honest, didn’t mind it. I couldn’t be bothered to review it back then. Years later, y Partner in Gore, Willow, and I watched the original meanspirited nasty, I Spit on your Grave (read review here), as she hadn’t seen it since she was 11 and barely recalled any of it. So, before banging on the remake and sequels (two of which are awesome), I dug this one out of the collection. It took us two sittings due to the ridiculous running time, but we ventured onwards.
Yeah, the running time is one of the central factors in I Spit on your Grave: Deja Vu reviews — it is stupidly overlong. The thing is, at least half hour could have been removed throughout and the story would have remained intact. Then the pacing would have been a little faster. As it stands, the pacing is too erratic. When something starts, we go back to pointless conversations, plodding comedy character building, and then maybe something else good will happen soon.
Many years have passed, and Jennifer Hills (Camille Keaton, Sella Turcica) has a book out about her nightmare vacation in the first flick, plus a successful model daughter, Christy (Jamie Bernadette, The Furnace, 4/20 Massacre). They sit eating and discussing life at a restaurant then head out across the carpark. Unbeknownst to them, a group of hillbilly trash folks have been reading the book, listening to her interviews, and planned to take Jennifer back to where it all happened. Lead by Becky, the wife of the late Johnny Stillman, she has plotted this in God’s name for decades. Now she has the temptress and her demon daughter exactly where she wants them.
The rest of the motley gang are relatives of the other three rapists. They all blame Jennifer for their slaughter. They don’t see their late kin as bad people, just victims. There’s a lot of tomfoolery, cat and mouse shit, then finally (SPOILER ALERT!!!) Becky beheads Jennifer gorily on the steps of a church. Her torso and cranium are thrown into a hole beside their dead loved ones, then spat upon.
Christy, meanwhile, is on the run, scared, lost, until she’s caught and raped. Escaping again, she’s left overnight wandering around naked in the woods. Stealing some clothes, a look comes over her face, her eyes change somewhat. Knowing her mother is dead, she wants revenge. She wants to inflict horrors and pain upon those who caused this…
The other thing the many who dislike this sequel comment on is the acting. Most of the cast are truly hams. They turn everything into a joke by their cartoon stereotypes. The director has a lot to answer for by creating these, but we must also give something of blame to the actors. Most surprisingly, though she’s praised by some, Camille Keaton is fucking terrible. She is phoning it in with a distinct cardboard lack of personality apart from her final scene in which she brings something out. She was great in Cry for the Badman (see review here) which popped out the same year.
It’s two folks who steal thos whole long show and hold what I Spit on your Grave: Deja Vu has going for it up. Jamie Bernadette as Christy Hills, Jennifer Hill’s daughter (hang on, this movie is set forty years after the first, but Jamie is a fair bit younger than forty — she’s meant to be the offspring of one of the original rapists… erm…). Anyhow, see this film for Jamie’s performance alone. She goes from crying victim to cold ice stare killer overnight and it’s perfect. Her gaze is one of complete malice and cruelty aimed at all who have wronged her and her mother.
The second saving grace is Jon Peacy as Kevin — a one-man maniac machine. He’s over-the-top, but a ball of energy. Willow hated his shouts, laughs, grunts, etcetera, but I got the point of it, it’s like a character from Edward Lee’s White Trash Gothic series. His demise perfectly reflects one of the deaths from the first movie.
A nice touch to proceedings is the brief return of Johnny’s two kids, now grown up, and played by the two actors (both the director’s children — Terry has done brilliantly in his movie career). I have no idea what happened to Johnny’s wife from the first one, instead we have Maria Olsen who’s been in tons of movies but is one of the guilty over-the-top performances in this film.
Josh and Sierra Russell handle the prosthetic effects. Josh has worked on the Hellraiser reboot, VFW, the Rob Zombie Halloween II thing, plus more, whilst Sierra also worked in Hellraiser, Beyond the Gate and many others. Aside from a dodgy severed head, the gore, and such works very well throughout.
Meir Zarchi, you could have really made something special here. Meir hasn’t really been busy over the years, it turns out. He made one other film in the mid-eighties before producing the remake and sequels to his infamous hit. How frustrating this is! The story is believable, everything concludes well — the last hour in which Christy begins her murderous rampage is excellent for about 70-per-cent of the time, the other 30-per-cent is that plodding drudge that drags the movie downwards. There’s a neat twist set up, which is not unexpected, but plausible, making use of even the lesser members of the cast. The biggest issue is that Meir didn’t seem to know whether to make a comedy or a serious rape revenge gorefest. Neither category sits well alongside the other. Plus, his writing sucks most of the running time. Conversations are artificial or meaningless, but then there’ll be a spark of genius now and then to break up this cruddiness.
A Creepy thumbs up goes to Alexandra Kenworthy for her brief but maximum crazy performance as Beady Eyes with a sly clue on her bike.
In summary, I Spit on your Grave: Deja Vu isn’t as bad as what they say, but that’s not to say it’s wonderful. There’s a handful of good ingredients, however we recommend two sittings. Doing it in one dulls the senses.
Directed by: Meir Zarchi
Written by: Meir Zarchi
Produced by: Meir Zarchi, Terry Zarchi
Cinematography by: Pedja Radenkovic
Edited by: Terry Zarchi
Special Effects by: Josh Russell, Sierra Russell, Mandy Artusato
Cast: Camille Keaton, Jamie Bernadette, Maria OLsen, Jon Peacy, Jim Tavare, Jeremy Ferdman, Roy Allen, Holie Forrester, Alexandra Kenworthy
Year: 2019
Country: USA
Language: English
Colour: Colour
Runtime: 2h 28min
Studio: Deja Vu (IIc)
Distributor: Deja Vu (IIc)