I Spit on "I Spit on Your Grave"

A college buddy told me Siskel & Ebert called "I Spit On Your Grave" (originally named "Day of the Woman") the most disgusting movie ever made. So, of course, I had to track down a copy and watch it.

They were right. "I Spit On Your Grave" really is a disgusting, obscene movie. This revenge tale is incredibly obscene on every conceivable level. And I don't just mean the subject matter - I mean every single measurable aspect, such as:

Subject matter. As long as I just mentioned it, let's talk about the plot of "I Spit On Your Grave." It's the age old story: woman writer (Jennifer Hills, played by Camille Keaton) goes to a cabin in the country to write, woman writer gets gang raped in the woods, woman writer kills those who raped her. And we get to accompany the woman writer every step along the way. No matter how graphic and no matter how long it takes.

Editing. It's hard to even talk about editing because I don't think much of "I Spit On Your Grave" was actually edited. The opening credits, for instance, are shown while our young woman writer is driving. Now, there are a LOT of people listed in the credits (which is nice, since we know who to blame) and those names are shown slowly. And she keeps driving. The whole time. The camera is just pointed at her behind the wheel. Driving.

Writing. The plot of "I Spit On Your Grave" is ridiculous - even by revenge film standards. Beyond that, however, Writer/Director Meir Zarchi stuffed every scene cliche possible in such a film. For instance: shortly after the gang rape in the woods is (finally) over, our heroine enters a chapel, genuflects, makes the Sign of the Cross, and apologizes for what she is about to do (which is to kill those who violated her). Later, she successfully woos one of the rapists, gets him in a bathtub (perfect for gratuitous nudity), cuts his manhood off with a knife, and leaves the bathroom, leaving him to bleed out.

Direction. To call Zarchi a hack director is to insult hack directors everywhere. The pivotal gang rape scene in "I Spit On Your Grave" takes place in the woods, mainly on a large boulder. And it takes a long time. A looooong time. It's graphic. Really graphic. And did I mention it took a really long time? I can imagine Zarchi held up signs reading "More Grunting!" and "Whine More!" and "Take Longer!"

Camera work. I specifically didn't call this section "cinematography" because there's nothing about "I Spit On Your Grave" that's worthy of the term. There's a scene where our female writer is lying in a hammock, gently swaying. The camera switches to first person, so that we allegedly are looking through her eyes. Instead of seeing a gentle sway with a central, fixed spot, the camera rapidly pans left and right several times as if she was shaking her head "no." Repeatedly.

Acting. The overly detailed gang rape in "I Spit On Your Grave" would have been horrific if the acting wasn't so laughable. Cardboard cut-outs may have actually cost less and had more talent than the villains - or heroine, for that matter. The grunting was, at best, forced. The helpless screaming was more funny than horror-inducing. And, sadly, the cliche dialogue was robotically, unemotionally delivered. Rather than "NNNOOO!!! STOP!!! PLEASE!!!" the lines were delivered: "No. Stop, please."

"I Spit On Your Grave" is obscene from every aspect. It's not even a "good bad movie." It's not even bad enough to enjoy and revel in how bad it is. It's obscenely unwatchable during the entire 1 hour, 40 minute run time.