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Spit on Your Movie.
Review: I was very alert today and ended up watching three movies. Today
was a good day.
Day of the Woman, more commonly known as I Spit on Your
Grave is one of those films I've heard and read a lot about but
never saw. And the box cover with its half-naked backside of a woman
has always intrigued me.
It's another one of the exploitation
films I recently purchased. In this case, it is in the
"rape and revenge" genre.
I Spit on Your Grave centers around a female writer
(Camille Keaton) who moves to a cabin in the woods to relax and
write a novel. However her peaceful retreat turns into a site of horrors as
she is brutally raped by four local men. She survives the attacks
and goes on the offensive to exact her own style of revenge.
Rape is a very real threat and a serious matter and I was
expecting a more believable and sobering story. Unfortunately,
director Meir Zarchi failed to deliver. He does deliver a disturbing
film, but it's not totally satisfying because there are too many
frustrating elements.
For example, either the four male actors playing the rapists have never had sex before
or they are the worst lovers ever. I assume they were instructed to
not be too obscene, but their goofy actions take away from the reality of what is
occurring. And if you're going to make a film about the horrors of
rape, then you better be prepared to push the boundaries.
The problem is in the men's movements or rather lack thereof.
The men get on top of Camille and position their pelvises against
hers, then their pelvises never move again. Instead, the men move
their heads and necks back & forth or whip them side to side in
a ridiculous manner. Instead of appearing to be satisfying an urge, they look
like their genitalia are being abused. A certain level of realism has to
be achieved when dealing with such important issues. Sadly, that's not the case here.
If that wasn't frustrating enough, the events that followed were
sure to be. Camille decides to stay at the cabin and recover on her own.
She never goes to
the police or seeks any medical attention. She stays by herself for days, if not weeks, to regain her health and plan her revenge.
I'll concede that the revenge scenes are memorable. Not because
they are all good, but because three out of the four are absolutely
inane. I won't give away the details, but the best revenge scene by
far was the second one, which occurs in a bathroom. The other
three scenes have such poor acting and special effects that they
just enforce the feelings of disappointment with this film.
The final product is disturbing and there are some satisfyingly
creepy images (see the screencaps), but Day of the Woman is not even close to being a great movie. Then
again, can you really expect a low budget flick about rape &
revenge to be a masterpiece?
Learn more: IMDb
DVD version viewed: I Spit on Your Grave (Millennium Edition) (Elite Entertainment,
UPC 790594775124)
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