1978 I Spit on Your Grave

• Director: Meir Zarchi
• Writer: Meir Zarchi
• Stars: Camille Keaton, Eron Tabor, Richard Pace, Anthony Nichols
• Runtime: 102 minutes (1 hour 42 minutes)
• YouTube Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dRAu8fCQtI
  

Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone

After a writer living alone is attacked and assaulted by four men, she takes brutal revenge on them. They didn’t double check their math when they made the poster that says she took care of five men. This is a weak movie surrounding multiple long scenes of graphic violence and suffering. The violence and sexual assaults are very realistic. There’s some debate if the movie is exploitative or empowering. Either way, it’s notorious for a reason.

Spoilery Synopsis

We watch Jennifer load her car with suitcases in the big city. She stops at a small-town gas station (with 63 cent gas) to ask directions to the lake. She explains that she’s rented a summer house there.

She arrives at the house, strips naked, and jumps in the lake. When she unpacks later, she finds a pistol in one of the drawers. Matthew comes to the door to deliver her food, and he thinks New York City is an evil place. He’s pretty simple, and he’s impressed when he hears that she’s a writer. He’s weird, but he’s a nice weird.

Mathews tells all about Jennifer to the guys at the gas station. He, along with Johnny, Stanley, and Andy, go fishing and talk about the sexy chicks. Matthew insists that Jennifer is special to him, and the others notice.

The next day, Jennifer is out working on her book and sees the guys approach in their boat. They’re annoying, so she goes inside to work. That night, she hears someone outside and considers the gun, but nothing happens.

The following day, she’s out in her canoe and the guys catch up to her in their motorboat and annoy her some more. Andy and Stanley drag her boat to the swamp and chase her through the woods until they run into Johnny, the leader of the group. They hold her down and tear her clothes off, and then call Matthew over to rape her. He can’t do it, but Johnny can– and does!

When it’s done, they still want Matthew to take his turn, but Matthew knows that’s wrong. She ends up walking home through the woods and swamp, naked, crying all the way. After a long walk she runs into the same guys again, and this time, Andy takes a turn. Jennifer can barely stand up after this round.

Jennifer finally makes it home, and she’s a mess. She crawls inside and gets to the phone to call the police– except the guys are already there waiting for her. After a great deal of goading, Matthew finally loses his virginity– nope, he can’t finish with an audience. Stanley finally gets his turn, right there in the living room.

On the way out, the guys decide they need to kill Jennifer to keep her quiet. They talk Matthew into doing it. He goes inside, chickens out, and wipes some of her blood on the knife before leaving.

Jennifer eventually wakes up, cleans up, and rests up. Johnny wonders why they haven’t seen any police at Jennifer’s house, and it’s been two weeks. Someone should have found the body by now. They start to wonder if Matthew really killed her. They’re all getting jittery about the whole thing. They drive by and see Jennifer outside.

Jennifer is somewhat recovered, scars and all, and she takes the gun with her to town. She stalks Johnny at the gas station and sees that he’s married with kids. She follows Matthew on his grocery deliveries. She orders some food, and Matthew knows the address; he takes a knife. When he arrives, she lures him out into the woods and seduces him. Then she hangs him with a noose and dumps his body in the river.

At the gas station, Jennifer shows up and seduces Johnny as well. She pulls out her gun and tells him to undress. He says this was all her fault; she drove them to do it. A bit later, she castrates him in the bathtub and he bleeds to death after a lot of screaming. There’s quite a mess to clean up.

Andy and Stanley head out in their boat toward Jennifer’s place; they know she had something to do with the disappearances. She swims over to Stanley’s boat, pushes him in, and chews him up with the propeller. She then kills Andy with his own axe.

Jennifer smiles as she speeds away in the motorboat.

Brian’s Commentary

It’s gotta be compared to “Last House on the Left,” (1972), which was a fix six years before this. Both portray brutal rape scenes followed by revenge.

There’s a rape scene and four murders (the poster lies about the body count). Other than that, there’s not much of a plot. The gore is pretty good and everything plays out pretty realistically.

I didn’t hate it.

Kevin’s Commentary

It was originally released in 1978 under the title “Day of the Woman,” and it was a flop. In 1980 distributor Jerry Gross renamed it, and publicity took off, with Siskel and Ebert complaining about it helping quite a bit. It’s been a notorious anti-hit ever since.

I’m pretty sure I was taken to see “Last House on the Left” (a very similar film) when it showed at the drive-in, but I am quite sure this was the first time I’d seen this one.

Some of the scenes are graphic and realistic, without any body double work. It would have been a really awkward movie to make.

It’s interesting, but I didn’t find it very entertaining.