Many other critics agreed, and the initial reaction to the film was distinctly negative.
It was even banned in the UK, Australia, and Canada, and was censored elsewhere.
As a prelude, the plot ofI Spit on Your Graveis relatively straightforward.
Image via Cinemagic Pictures
New Yorker Jennifer (Camille Keaton) rents a cottage in remote Connecticut to write her first novel.
By the end, Jennifer kills all four men, and speeds off in a motorboat, fully content.
What Makes Meir Zarchi’s ‘I Spit on Your Grave’ more Feminist thanMisogynistic?
But also, to provide acathartic,empoweringexperience for female audiences.
Nowadays,Spithas acultfollowing, and is viewed positively by manyhorrorfans andfeministscholars alike.
And although the rape scenes are prolonged, the revenge scenes take up the vast majority of the runtime.
“Well, 4 out of 5 doctors agree that I am actually insane.”
Film scholarCarol Clovernoted this as wellin her highly influential bestseller,Men, Women, and Chainsaws.
It’s essentially the most stripped-down, raw representation of what the rape-revenge genre is.
Spitis not above criticism it’slow budget, the acting isn’t revolutionary, and its plot is pretty basic.
How Has The Rape-Revenge Genre Evolved Since ‘I Spit On Your Grave’?
By initially putting sexual violence in the forefront,Spitset an extreme foundation that was later refined and improved.
Audiences nowadays do not need brutal, prolonged rape scenes to understand the dynamics, trauma, and implications.
But in 1978, it came at the perfect time.
Or will it switch back to showing brutal scenes for shock factor or emotional impact?
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