Rating: Summary: Horror Cult Classic Review: This is truly horror art. Although not a film I would watch often it is a classic along with "Last House on the Left", "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", et cetera. Probably the best movie dealing with rape. Although most women would not go vigilante as she does, I would bet they certainly think about it. To often low budget films like this are swept aside for more mainstream ones. Fortunately enough of a following has somehow brought this out on DVD. Not for the squeamish. A hard story that does not pull any punches.
Rating: Summary: dehumanization Review: This movie is most effective and most realistic because it contains no music. It seems more like a documentary and there is melodramatics or big emotional scenes. It is all shown in a subtle and laidback manner. We watch it as if we are actually there and experience it in the same way the characters in the movie does. The film simply is a moral tale about the dehumanizing effects of rape. Jennifer Hill is a humane, quiet and kind woman. However, after she is raped, she is no longer the same person. There are a few interesting notes, after she is raped, she wears clothing that covers her entire body except for a scene where she lays on a hanging bed but otherwise, she is fully dressed throughout the second part even when she kills her attackers. She seems to be more aware of how tempting she was when she was scantily clad. I have not read anywhere where this point is made. She doesn't just recover over night. You see her sit in her house alone and scared. You get a close up of her eyes and you see her crawling for a few minutes after she is raped. This is an extended scene. We get a feel of her pain and suffering. The camera watches her eyes, her body movements and you know she has been through the worst trauma ever. You see her get scared and frightened when she sees the men on the boat again as they ride by. She doesn't just instantly go to revenge. She thinks about it and contemplates it. Then finally after asking for forgiveness from God, she decides to take them out. She is emotionless and cold as she does it. She was not like that before she got raped but now she is. This to me shows how the whole experience dehumanized her. She lost her humanity. The tranformation of her from a kindly, quiet woman to a cold-blooded killer is developed well and the reason is shown clearly. The rape scenes show just how horrible it for her. I swear when you hear her scream and the camera goes to a close up of her screaming, you feel it with her. You are there and it is devastating. You feel so sorry for her and you want to just run in there and stop it but you can't. It then takes a few minutes for you to realize you are only watching a movie. You are able to understand why she reacts the way she does. These men are three dimensional. The main rapist has a wife and kid, the retarded kid works and he is passive and easily conned. There are scenes that express the dangers of peer pressure as they mock him and make fun of him and even beat him up for not killing her. I highly recommend it but I will admit it is very difficult to watch, the rape scenes made me cringe, cry and just almost break down. I sometimes wanted to turn it off but I felt I had to watch it, to give myself a sense of reality and to know that life is ugly and this movie makes the point clearly. I can tell you one thing if you see this movie, you will never forget it.
Rating: Summary: CAUTION!! Still Disturbing In Todays Cinematic Climate. Review: I Spit On Your Grave. I have to give this film four stars. Frankly, I am surprised that it did not receive higher ratings, and more favorable reviews in this forum. Even in todays cinematic climate, it remains disturbing and unsettling. It is easy to see why this film was considered controversial upon its release, and why ti stills remains as one of the most infamous underground films to date. Whatever genre this film is classified in...horror, exploitation, action, drama...it is a must see. The cheap cinematography, grainy texture, and tense atmosphere are a few of the highpoints of this film. It is also the most brutal and accurate depiction of the terrible atrocity of rape I have ever viewed. I want to make readily known however, that this film SHOULD NEVER BE VIEWED BY A MINOR UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE! This film is highly graphic and very disturbing, and should only be viewed by adults who know what this film contains. Highly recommended, highly warned.
Rating: Summary: Very disturbing exploitation film Review: Getting back to the series of reviews I did on exploitation horror films like "The New York Ripper" and "Zombie," I now take the time to analyze the fiercely disturbing "I Spit on Your Grave" from writer-director Meir Zarchi. I'd seen the box for this film on movie store walls since I was about ten, and had been interested in seeing it ever since, but had always ended up passing it up for something else. Was it worth the wait? Yes. Could it have waited longer? You bet. It is a good film, but it's far from being a great film. The cult appeal of it is obvious. It was made on a low budget with shoestring cinematography and almost no makeup effects whatsoever. The makeup effects we do see are bad, so it's no wonder Zarchi decided to hide that gruesome castration behind the porcelain wall of a bathtub. Such things are better left to the imagination, as John Carpenter has pointed out to us; how it will look in the audiences mind is infinitely more terrifying. Zarchi isn't of that school though, and the violence in this film is put on display wholesale for us to digest and possibly throw up. "I Spit on Your Grave" is a merciless film.The plot of the film is simple: A woman rents a cabin out in the woods, craving peace, quiet, and solitude to work on her first novel. She is quite attractive, and this is the first thing four men in town happen to notice when she stops by a gas station and later on gets a visit from the grocery boy. They decide to rape her. Very simple, and very disgusting, to think that there might actually be men in the world who think this way. And even more frightening yet to see the consequences of this way of thinking executed on screen in a series of vicious rapes and beatings that make the rape scene in "The Accused" look like passionate, consentual sex. Just when you think all the turmoil for this young woman is over, after she's forced to walk back home, naked, through the woods, stepping through mud and grit and trees with sharp branches, there's more to come. It seems like it never ends. Even the one man we have hope for betrays our trust, and hers. I was sick to my stomach by the time this was finally done. I know this was the reaction Zarchi was going for, but he could've done it with more style and less grit. Yes, this is disturbing, and most people might think it'd be disservicing the material to stylize it in anyway, but there really is a question of going too far here. As I've previously stated, when it's left up to our imagination, it's infinitely more terrifying. Nonetheless, the rape scenes, because they are so brutal and straightforward in their heinous nature, what ensues afterward seems justified. By the time the woman heals, we are already rooting for her, and we are one hundred percent with her when her plan to launch deadly revenge against the four men who attacked her goes into action. On that level, I recommend this movie. It's hardcore, stomach-churning, and all-out girl-powered. The four guys in the movie are the reasons why some women hate men. ... The men in this movie are pigs. And we rejoice in the revenge of this young woman after she was sodomized again and again by the absolute bottom of the male gene pool. "I Spit on Your Grave" is a dish best served cold. --This text refers to the DVD edition
Rating: Summary: THIS IS AN EXTREMELY PERVERSE MOVIE!!!!!! Review: I rented this movie about a year ago and it was so disturbing I had to cut it off! I have watched a lot of bad movies in my lifetime but this sick twisted film took the cake. I love shocking horror movies and always have, but this movie was too much even for me! And if I can't make myself watch it, then IT'S GOT TO BE REALLY BAD!!! Whoever made this distasteful movie needs help! And anyone who can sit down and enjoy watching this crap should get help-------AND FAST!!! I didn't even watch all of it, it was that damn distasteful!!! The story focuses on an innocent gal who is relentlessly attacked and raped numerous times by a gang of perverts-----one of whom is retarded. After raping her, they leave her lying nakad in her cabin. They think she's dead, but she's not and stalks them and kills them off one by one in gruesome ways. Don't buy this B.S. Don't even rent it, unless you're as perverse as this movie is!!!
Rating: Summary: This is a movie for those who enjoy and fantasize about rape Review: I bet the nitwits who gave this movie 3-5 stars also enjoy child ... as well. It's a shame that there are millions of good movies out there and yet, the nimcompoops of the world chose this film out of billion others and rate this as, "WOW, best movie EVER!!" The Scoop: After ten minutes of introduction (which is about a this dumb-naive writer who drives down to country for change of scenery to finish her book ALL ALONE (duh~), getting beaten, raped ...abused, and left for dead by four country hicks. Afterwards, instead of going for help, this tough cookie decides and plans for an ultimate revenge.. death of four rednecks!! This really isn't a horror flick and the main reason this movie was banned from other countries is NOT because its gruesome nature (which really isn't compared to chainsaw massacre or Nightmare on Elm St) but because of all the distubing scenes this character goes throughout the movie. Other than that, there really isn't much of a story or acting... which afterwards, one has to question about moral values for those who valued this movie so high. Verdict: If your one of those people who secretly download ... scenes for your own sick sense of pleasure, I highly recommend this movie for you!
Rating: Summary: Better than I expected after all the negative..... Review: Well, its been a long time coming for those of us in the UK who were too young to see this first time round. The film is still banned here in its UNCUT version. I was surprised to see that the film is NOT AS BAD AS HAS BEEN REPORTED...but Zarchi clearly is treating the subject matter seriously. Sure, its part exploitation, but no one can be unsure about the film-makers desire to show us the damage caused by the crime and its devastating effect. I wasn't cheering at that end...its too sad for that. Worth a watch definitely.
Rating: Summary: this movie is the bomb baby Review: A great movie, but not for everyone. If you have a weak stomach dont even attempt to watch this movie. And ladies if you have ever been raped or have been threatned...dont watch this. This isnt a movie to take your date on because you will freak her out. Very violent, disturbing, nudity beyond belive. It's about a woman who is raped numerous times by 4 rednecks. Later she gets revenge on each of them, the deaths are very violent and the director used his imagination on a lot of them. I recommend this movie to everyone who thinks they can handle it. Again you need a strong stomach, and remember it is only a movie. Men, watch out for the bathtub scene, it will make you cry and never want to take a bath again.
Rating: Summary: Disturbing examination of small town versus big town life Review: This movie honestly examines the realities of big city vs. small city life. While newspaper headlines accuse big cities of being crime ridden and small towns being safehavens of good values, this movie powerfully exposes that false myth. A young writer from the Big City of New York goes to a small town believing she will find serenity. She instead is brutally raped in an approximately 40 minutes (originally 57 minutes and was cut down to make it less graphic if you can believe it) scene. As hard as it is for big city folk to comprehend in their sheltered environment, this is normal everyday life in a small town. This is the only movie I know that brings the experience of the realities and horrors of small town living to the safety and security of the big city home. Should not be used as entertainment but for understanding of this dark world.
Rating: Summary: No doubt one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Review: The plot is about as bare-bones as an exploitation film gets: A writer from the "big city" rents a country home to work on a new novel. A group of hicks attack and rape her several times, then leave her for dead. She recovers, and seduces, then murders them one by one. Roll credits. I'm really baffled as to the purpose of this film. Are the rape scenes realistic? Sure; they're graphic and uncomfortable. Is the realistic portrayal of rape in itself a worthy goal for a movie? Not really. I could make a movie that realistically portrays animal torture and prison sex... but without a plot or characters, why would anyone waste 90 minutes of their time? Viewers who say there's some kind of feminist subtext to the film are putting a lot more thought into the picture than the director did. Keaton continues to be a sex object right until the end of the picture. What's really awful about the film, though, is the completely amateurish acting, cinematography, dialogue and script. The movie does not even have a soundtrack. Really awful stuff. If you want to see a rigorously disturbing horror/exploitation film that ALSO has some artistic sense, find a copy of "Cannibal Holocaust." It's infinitely better than this awful, awful film.
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