“The moral of the story….No means No!”

Hell definitely hath no fury, like a woman scorned!  These words could not be any more right on than what is portrayed in the 1978 cult classic shocker I Spit on Your Grave.  Written and directed by Meir Zarchi, I Spit on Your Grave is considered one of the most controversial and disturbing movies ever made.  Originally titled Day of the Woman, it set the groundwork for the “Rape/Revenge” genre of horror.

THE PLOT

Jennifer Hills (Camille Keaton), an aspiring writer has decided to leave the city and find isolation at a cottage in the countryside to focus on writing her first novel.  It seems like the ideal setting…no distractions, peace and quiet, and inspiration.  Little does she know, the local men in the town are nothing more than backwoods degenerate misogynists with absolutely no morals and seemingly little intelligence.  The only person that Jennifer seems to be able to trust is the local grocery delivery boy, Matthew.  Apparently mentally handicapped, Mathew quickly grows a crush on Jennifer because of her beauty and sweetness towards him.  When he tells the local guys about her, they think that it’s humorous and decide to help Matthew out, by setting up a way for him to lose his virginity with her.

One day while she is relaxing in a canoe, Jennifer is caught off guard by Matthew and his three “friends” and they tow her boat to shore using a speedboat.  Once on shore, the men try to encourage Matthew to “go for it”, but he is too shy and refuses to go through with it.  Frustrated, Johnny, the seemingly leader of the group, wrestles her to the ground and strips off her bikini and violently rapes her.  What follows is very disturbing and shocking to say the least.  The men stalk her and attack her multiple times as she tries to make her way home.  Once she gets there, the madness continues until the men decide to leave, thinking that leaving her for dead is the best option.

Over the next few days, Jennifer tries to recollect herself and does a lot of soul searching.  What the men don’t know is that they’ve awakened an angry and vengeful beast!  Jennifer starts to put her plan into action, by seducing the men and playing into their game in order to extract her revenge on the men, one by one.

SHOULD YOU SEE IT?

Shocking, disturbing, and very controversial, I Spit on Your Grave is easily one of the toughest movies for most to sit through.  Some have labeled it as a “Female Empowerment” film, although most people would disagree.  I would say that any woman who has been victim to sexual violence should approach this film with caution.  It’s an incredibly twisted flick, that is both hard to watch and even harder to forget.