I went into this film expecting a certain type of movie: an in-your-face film pumped with violence, hate and vengeance. My suspicions seemed to have been confirmed at the ticket window when I was informed it was ‘Unrated’ and nobody under 17 would be allowed in the theater. Me and my suspicions were almost right.
The film opens in a very normal way for a horror film. Jennifer Hills (Sarah Butler) goes off to a private cabin to write. Along the way she stops at a gas station and has an encounter with some locals. These locals later find her cabin and a combination of words and events leads to them attacking her, raping her and leaving her for dead. They should have made sure she was, in fact, dead because a little more than a month after the vicious attack, Jennifer comes back for revenge, picking off her attackers one by one.
The film is a remake, so I had a clear sense going in of what to expect. Did the remake do the original justice? Well, yes and no. It stayed true to the essence of Jennifer and really emphasized the attack; however, it was not as “cult classic”-like as I had hoped, nor did I find it deserving of the unrated rating. Rated R? Absolutely, but none of the blood and guts, or even the rape scene for that matter, were out of the norm for today’s more successful horror flicks. In other words, there’s nothing we as an audience haven’t seen in other films such as “Hostel,” “Saw” or any of Rob Zombie’s films.
If you like intricate death traps and are a fan of campy horror, this is right up your ally. I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it. “I Spit On Your Grave” is simply another horror flick that I can add to my pallet.
Perfect for the Halloween season, on the Jess-O-Meter it rates as “Hold on to your privates.”
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Follow Jessika Owens on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jessika.
I saw this movie bit not the original so i can only comment on what i know. It was campuses & suspenseful but not deserving of an “Unrated” status. Certain scenes were hard to watch at times & although i felt compassion for one of the aggressors I couldn’t wait for her to find very specific ways for each of them to die… & she did!