I Spit On Your Grave (2010) **½
Jennifer Hills (Sarah Butler), a writer working on a new novel rents a riverside cabin in upstate New York. Upon arrival she inadvertently attracts the wrong kind of attention from three deadbeat locals led by Johnny (Jeff Branson), who harass her at the local gas station. They eventually attack Jennifer in her cabin and humiliate her until she escapes into the woods. She runs into the local Sheriff (Andrew Howard) who is on a hunting trip, he escorts her back to the cabin and things take a turn for the worse. The other locals reappear and the group strip her naked and encourage Matthew (Chad Lindberg), the local simpleton, to rape her. She is then repeatedly attacked and raped in turn by the rest of the group. Jennifer wanders to a nearby bridge and falls into the river below, unable to find her body the group believe her to be dead. Jennifer recovers and sets about her bloody revenge, ensuring that the punishment fits the crime…
Produced by original writer/director Meir Zarchi and directed Steven R. Monroe. Another unnecessary remake, this time of the cult rape/revenge ‘video nasty’ from 1978. I’m loathe to use the term ‘classic’ as the original is not worthy of that status, and neither is this remake. It’s not a bad film, in fact in comparison to many of the pointless remakes of classic 70’s horror that we’ve had to endure over the last few years; this is one of the better ones.
Similar to the original; the remake differs mainly in quality, of dialogue, direction and acting, all of which are of a much higher standard than the original. There are also technological updates such as cell phones, laptops and a handycam which one of the assailants uses to document their attack which seems insane when you consider their crime, but is not so far-fetched when you look at ‘YouTube’ these days.
The addition of the sheriff to the group is pointless apart from the addition of another character to kill, and seeing as Jennifer kills her assailants in ways similar to however they defiled her, well, as the sheriff seems to like anal rape he gets his in a horrific manner. In fact the way Jennifer exacts her revenge is slightly less believable this time around, as she rigs-up methods of retribution more akin to the extravagant torture porn of the ‘Saw’ sequels.
Well made, violent, visceral, brutal, disturbing although ultimately pointless. As with the original, this movie will have its critics and fans; see it only if you have the stomach for this kind of thing.
Quality: 3 out of 5 stars
Any good: 2 out of 5 stars
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