I Spit on your Grave (1978)
Starring: Camille Keaton, Eron Tabor, Richard Pace, Anthony Nichols
Director: Meir Zarchi
Synopsis: One of the most vilified and notorious films ever made!
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

Supposedly banned outright in no less then 39 countries this low budget exploitation cheapie has earned itself the enviable accolade as "King of the nasties".

It is virtually impossible to think of a film that has been loathed by critics as much as this revenge drama - however the very critics who have heaped scorn upon it have also been responsible for turning a very inept, forgettable film into one that has earned not only mass notoriety but also considerable amounts of money due to its "reputation".

Proceedings begin with Jennifer (Camille Keaton - descendent of Buster) leaving a typically bustling Manhattan for what she hopes will be the tranquil and soothing pastures of the countryside where she intends on completing an upcoming novel. She takes up an isolated house in the country away from prying neighbours and other irritants but unfortunately the local goons notice her arrival and it isn't long before their unsavoury bating games begin. It doesn't help that the very first thing that Jennifer does upon arriving at her summer hideaway is to strip off and go for a quick skinny dip, that too in the local river.

At first the visitor is taunted by the degenerates while basking in the summer sun but she doesn't seem to read the alarm signals. Later at night she is subjected to strange sounds from the darkness outside that are more human than animal. She even foolishly goes out to investigate, not realizing how close she is to the brink of disaster. The next day while she is out drifting on her boat, she finds herself surrounded by the goons. She is tossed around like a rag doll and eventually thrown to the ground where she is forcibly spread-eagled so that the retard amidst the morons can lose his virginity. The retard chickens out but things get increasingly grim. The brutal rape scene that follows is filmed in almost real time and without any editing or music - almost documentary style which renders it all the more repulsive and difficult to endure.

Jennifer, after what seems like an eternity, manages to somehow crawl away from the scene only to be besieged by the goons once again down stream where they proceed to ravage her in what is possibly the movie's most sickening moment. The hapless woman is once again spread-eagled on a rock brutalized from behind in a scene that is as repellent as any in this vile movie. Somehow a broken, devastated woman starts the crawl back to her vacation home but . Just when you thought things couldn't possibly get any worse, the goons attack her again and this time the retard finds the confidence while another goes at her with a bottle top. The rest of the movie is typical sleazy payback with the victim turning the tables and offing her tormentors in increasingly brutal "crowd pleasing" ways.

Perhaps the film is perversely more effective for its complete lack of any semblance of style or artistry. The script stinks and the acting is similarly of a dreadful level though Ms. Keaton would beg to differ as she has apparently been bestowed several awards due to her performance and to be fair she is brave, at very least.

The lack of background music and the tragic sense of editing makes for a film that appears like a very shoddily produced documentary and perhaps it was this dubious quality that proved the attention grabber. Even more than twenty years after release the film remains very difficult to stomach and remains as offensive as ever. It smacks of a certain level of degeneracy in that not only does the film exploit a very sleazy, dehumanising subject but it also appears to revel in doing so. The rape scenes have been lovingly handled and last forever while the dialogues appear to have been authored by a closet rapist.

In a quite remarkable fairytale-like twist of fate, the director and star of the film fell massively in love during the shooting of this monstrosity and ended up getting married. I Spit remains a truly awful experience that gives cult movies a bad name yet it is also of immense interest due to the huge controversy that it stirred up getting the likes of Roger Ebert riled enough to start ranting about how rotten it was and that how people should picket cinemas that showed the film. In the United Kingdom it remains something of a prized collectors item!