I Spit on Your Grave

Half rape, half revenge film, Steven R. Monroe's remake of Meir Zarchi's notorious 1978 exploitation flick is more professionally made than its predecessor, but given the plentitude of grisly fare nowadays, it can't match the original's shock value, although this retread does shift the emphasis somewhat. While a major element remains the graphic attack on a writer named Jennifer (Sarah Butler) working in an isolated cabin, the brutal gang-rape here basically serves as a prelude to the real raison d'être—the imaginative reprisals that a wrongly presumed dead Jennifer inflicts on her attackers. Jennifer's carefully crafted death-traps are torture-porn set-pieces reminiscent of the Saw and Hostel franchises (with each also serving as a clever commentary on its victim's particular persona), and her vengeance also extends to the corrupt local sheriff (Andrew Howard). All of this is presented with a grim intensity leavened by gallows humor—especially during the final half-hour—in sequences that will be considered either sadistic or appropriate, depending on one's point of view. While some might try to justify I Spit on Your Grave as a tale of feminist vengeance against a bunch of soulless brutes, it's still an ugly film that leaves a distinctly bad aftertaste. Not recommended. (F. Swietek)