I’m very guilty of owning box sets but not having watched all the films in them. I could list the box sets that I own where I’m guilty of that, but it would be a long list. So I decided that with some free time I would try and watch make the list a little shorter, and so first up is the I Spit On Your Grave franchise, a series of films where I have seen some of them, but not all of them. Now I know that spending a full day working my way through these five films is hardly going to be a popcorn and happy day due to the nature of these films, but I’m going for it anyway! Tomorrow perhaps I might watch a bunch of Disney films as a cleaner for my brain but for now I’m headed into the world of violence and revenge. For those not familiar with the I Spit On Your Grave franchise of films. Beware! They are tough films and date back to the mid 1970s when the first film was shot, and the most recent film was released in 2019. So they do span decades.
(1978) Running Time 1hr 41 minutes.
Starring Camille Keaton as Jennifer Hill . Written and Directed by Meir Zarchi.
I first saw the cover art for 1978’s I Spit On Your Grave in the early 80s in my local video store. I wouldn’t have been more than 9 or 10 and the cover freaked me out, but also had me curious as to what on earth this film was about. The cover art isn’t overly gruesome (compared to the likes of Driller Killer) but it does show you that the film you may watch (if you rented it) was something brutal and nasty and horror fans just had to see it.
It wasn’t until the late 80s (around 1986 or 1987 if I recall) that I finally saw the film on a grainy well worn VHS rental and yes the film was horrific in content (for me anyways, I tend to describe myself as a bit of a lightweight when it comes to brutal horror films) Over the years I have seen 1978’s I Spit On Your Grave (originally called Day Of The Woman) perhaps 3 or 4 times, most recently today and whilst I don’t have the film in my Top 100 film list I still very much appreciate the film for its place in movie history. It was one of the most notorious films of its time and I still think it deserves its place in the notorious and tough film lists. Yes perhaps it looks a little dated now especially with some of the villain roles, but if you watch the film through 1978 eyes, and through the knowledge that this was a $650k film and not a studio picture then youll appreciate it more and it still has impact, it still has that creepiness that films like Last House On The Left, or The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has, that low budget look to it that adds to the impact it has on you. Its an uneasy film that every time I watch it, I am never sure if its a film I should be watching. Its also a film that is never easy to recommend. I mean if you met someone new and they said ‘hey lets watch I Spit On Your Grave’ you would likely raise your eyebrow and perhaps run for the door. But I do appreciate the film and its creation and if you are a fan of film history, or notorious films. Then I would carefully recommend you check the film out. Telling the story of Jennifer (brilliantly played by Camille Keaton), who travels from New York to Connecticut and finds herself brutally attacked by a gang of locals and not just on one occasion. Jennifer then takes revenge on the men, one by one, in brutal ways. I did plan to watch all the films in a single day, leaving a slight gap in-between each film (perhaps around half an hour) but after watching the first film. I did need a gap of a couple of hours. Will I complete my franchise watch in a single day?
Started Viewing: 10:20am
(2010) Running Time 1hr 48 minutes. Directed by Steven R Monroe. Starring Sarah Butler as Jennifer
Then it was time to head into the remake which I fully expected to be more polished than the original film, but would that polish and perhaps slicker editing help the film be more powerful or would it lose some of that rawness that the 1978 film had, and that made the original film hit harder. What I Spit On Your Grave(2010) is, is a solid remake and does deserve to go into those ‘which remakes are good’ lists that people often talk about. Im conflicted about my thoughts on this film though as whilst it is more polished than the 78 film, I know a lot of that is due to a bigger budget remake= $2m, compared to the first films budget of $650k), time, technology and the fact that filmmaking does move on and new skills are learned over the years So to compare the two films is kinda unfair. The remake also doesn’t have and wont have the impact that the 78 film had due to the fact that in the 2000s we had seen so much brutal horror on screen over the years that whilst its still hard hitting- it isnt as hard hitting as say the 78 film was when it was released. Also the huge video nasty era of the 80s isnt a thing now which would lessen the impact that the remake had. But the 2010 film is still a solid film. Sarah Butler is excellent in the role of Jennifer Hills and with make up and visual effects being so much more accessible and affordable when the remake was made, the death scenes are more inventive than the 78 film. We also spend more time seeing the lives of the ‘villains’ which adds that extra dimension to the storyline- we still hate them of course as they are nasty scum- but seeing what they are doing when they aren’t brutalising Jennifer, does give you a bit of a breather from the violent scenes that of course we see in this film. So I don’t compare I Spit On Your Grave (2010) too much to the 1978 I Spit On Your Grave (a.k.a Day Of The Woman) I think there is room for both films. Director Steven R Monroe does a great job of updating this classic 78 film into the 21st century.
Start Time 1400hrs:
(2013) Directed by Steven R Monroe. Starring Jemma Dallender as Katie.Featuring Joe Absolom as Ivan Patov.
Running Time 1 hr 46 mins.
This third film in the franchise (but second after the remake) doesn’t feature Sarah Butler as Jennifer Hills but does take us into the story of a young aspiring model named Katie (played by Jemma Dallender) who accepts an offer to have some photographs taken for her modeling portfolio. Of course with this being a film in the I Spit On Your Grave franchise events turn into a nightmare of human trafficking, torture, rape, kidnapping and revenge and the film doesn’t hold back on its grimness that’s for sure!. Casting wise, its worth mentioning that ‘Doc Martin’ Joe Absolom plays a role in this movie. An unusual role for Joe and certainly a grim role for him. There are things in this film that I have never seen before and I don’t really wish to see them again (due to their ickiness!!) I would have been very easy to take the plot of I Spit On Your Grave, swap out the lead character and villains, and replay the same plot over again and whilst if you strip down to the basics with Part2, then that’s what has been done- however I Spit On Your Grave 2 is far more than a retread. Yes the film is about a woman who is brutally attacked and who ends up taking revenge on those who attacked her, however whilst the film starts in New York, it shifts to Bulgaria (that’s the human trafficking part I mentioned) and puts Katie fully on her own in an unknown country. Jemma Dallender is fantastic in the main role and I cant imagine how physically and mentally exhausting it must be to take on a role of this nature and this was only her second film role (the UK film Community being the first), and a role on TVs Hollyoaks. I like that I Spit On Your Grave at its foundation keeps the plot of the original films but really like how the writers and director of Part 2 add enough layers to this film to shift it from being ‘oh here we go again’ For those gore fans out there there are more than enough ‘oh my god are they going to show that’ scenes in the film, I lost count of how many times I closed my eyes to not witness something- but it was certainly quite a few. I’m a bit of a lightweight when it comes to horror sometimes. Unfortunately it looks like the series doesn’t return to Katie, id like to have seen her character return in a sequel.
Start Time 1630hrs
(2015) Directed by Richard Schenkman Running Time 1hr 32 minutes) Starring Sarah Butler as Jennifer Hills
The film follows the life of Jennifer Hills (now going under the name Angela and who has relocated to LA), and continues her story from I Spit on Your Grave (2010). After Jennifer survived her assault and exacted revenge on the men who raped her, she avoided conviction for her killing spree and headed off to try and rebuild her life . Now in therapy (understandably!) Jennifer (a.ka Angela) develops a bond with one of the women in the group and things take a turn for the darker pretty quickly. To say that I Spit On Your Grave III is the weakest of the series is true but that’s not to say its a bad film. Whilst its interesting to return to Jennifer who we last saw in the 2010 remake, the film doesn’t really follow the formula of the other films in the franchise. Part 3 feels more like a Death Wish sequel than an I Spit On Your Grave sequel, but as I also like the Death Wish films, please don’t take that comment as a slam against the film. As I mentioned earlier, I like that the films don’t just follow the same blueprint as the first film(s) and do manage to craft their own thing from the core story trope of the original movies without hugely diverting away from what this franchise is about. You can in theory head into I Spit On Your Grave III without having seen any of the other films. I’m not sure why you would, but you could if you wanted to. Gore wise its perhaps the least ‘oh crikey that’s brutal’ than the other movies although there’s a super nasty scene involving a metal pipe and a sledgehammer (yes I looked away for that)
Start Time 1900 hrs
(2019) Directed by Meir Zarchi, starring Camille Keaton as Jennifer HIlls, and Jamie Bernadette as Christy Hills ft a cameo by Terry Zarchi as Johnny Stillman Jr.
Running Time 2hrs 28 minutes
For the final film (so far) in the franchise. I headed into I Spit On Your Grave: Deja Vu which is set 40 years after the events of the 1978 film and we find that Jennifer Hills (played once again by Camille Keaton) wrote a best-selling memoir based on her rape and has become a successful rape counselor. Her daughter, Christy Hills (played by Jamie Bernadette), is a successful supermodel, The families of Jennifer’s rapists are plotting their revenge and plan to take out their anger on The Hills family. The most striking thing about the film (before I had seen the film) was its running time. i was sure that this must be a misprint and that an I Spit On Your Grave film wouldn’t really be nearly a 150 minutes, but it was, even though it didn’t feel like it.
Start Time 2100hrs
(2019) Documentary by Terry Zarchi.
Running Time 1hr 42 minutes.
I didn’t include this documentary as part of my ‘day’ as my goal was to watch the movies, and Terry’s documentary I had previously seen a couple of times, one of them was earlier this month. I’ve seen a lot of film documentaries over the years and not that I ever have compiled a list of the best ones (but perhaps I should) then I would definitely put Growing Up With I Spit On Your Grave on that list. Its actually a documentary that you can watch even if you haven’t seen any of the films as it gives you enough information to keep you up with the history of the I Spit On Your Grave history. It delves into where the idea came from to make the film in the first place, the production of the film, and the effect the film had on the film world once released and yes of course you then learn more about the remake, the sequels etc. Terry Zarchi has done such a great job putting this documentary together and I highly recommend you check it out. Even if you are squeamish to the idea of watching the I Spit On Your Grave films- this documentary is still very much worth watching. I hadn’t seen the remake, I spit on your Grave 2, or 3 when i first watched the documentary and I just did fine. I also had the opportunity to speak with Terry on an audio podcast around the time the doc came out. He and I were ‘twitter’ buddies and I had Terry on my ‘I want him on my podcast’ list for a while- so once day I thought- right. I’m going to ask him! and he said yes! Ill put a link to that conversation right at the bottom of this article.
All in all, the I Spit on your Grave franchise is an interesting one. With 5 films, some of them are sequels to each other (I Spit On Your Grave, and I Spit On Your Grave:Deja Vu are connected) and I Spit On Your Grave (2010), and I Spit On Your Grave 3 (2015) are sequels with number 2 being the only real standalone entry into the franchise. So as long as you can keep up with that. It all works out. its definitely not a set of films for everyone, and they are brutal films but if you aren’t freaked out by hard hitting films- then they are worth checking out and if you want to see them all, the box set is the best way to go as they are filled with extras too including commentaries, and making of’s.
My thoughts: Whilst watching this many brutal films in a single day isn’t a habit I have, I did set myself this task to not only make sure I caught up with the franchise, but also as a film watching ‘marathon’ After watching all these tough films (and for me they are tough) ill definitely be headed into light hearted movie mode for the next day or two but I’m glad I sat down and watched all these movies. Its a solid series and on the surface they may appear to be rape/revenge movies, if you look beyond that layer in all the films- the I Spit On Your Grave films are more than that. But they are still a series of films id not recommend to everyone, but if you have heard of them but havent seen them, and you do have a strong stomach- then do check them out. I wont rank them as I dont like to pit films against each other but I will echo my thoughts in that the franchise is a solid franchise. Will there be any more I Spit On Your Grave movies? Well only time will tell for that one.
frompage2screen.com 