IT’S CURIOUS AND YET strangely fitting that I Spit On Your Grave should be our first feature to focus on our Flashback Friday posts.

Fitting because it follows on the theme of revenge horror films from our podcast discussions on The Last House On The Left  of which this movie is arguably the pinnacle.

Banned in numerous countries around the world and severely panned for its crude and exploitative focus on rape and the vilification of its lead female character Jennifer causing film critic Roger Ebert to cite it as the “worst movie ever made” and a “vile piece of garbage.”
It’s not just the act or several acts that follow and the torment that is inflicted upon her, but the sheer relentlessness of it all these actions that make for incredibly uncomfortable viewing.
So much so that you can’t help but question the reason for such gratuitousness.

If it was about the revenge, then the that revenge had best be sweet, and even though the poor excuse for humans are duly dispatched, by the time it comes around, you are left not caring.

By the time it comes around, you’ve been turned off by all that unfolded previously.

The acting is poor.

The plot is left wanting.

And the subject matter is badly handled.

I Spit On Your Grave may have reached cult status and will probably stay as such whilst it stays in the limelight. (The recent remake and subsequent sequels have strengthened that at least for the time being.)
And yet in this Horror Surgeon’s eyes, the movie doesn’t deserve such a high place on the classic horror mantle.

Especially when placed alongside the likes of Friday the 13th or A Nightmare On Elm Street.

Best to be shelved and forgotten about.

-Paul Farrell

SUCH WAS THE IMPACT that Wes Craven’s feature, The Last House On The Left had on the film industry, it was inevitable that Hollywood would look at a remake.

What is interesting about this film is that the masterminds behind the original, Wes Craven and Sean Cunningham came on board as producers.

Certainly the theme still could hold strong with a modern audience, as parents seeking revenge on their daughters’ near-death experience at the hands of some vile representatives of humanity.

The key difference from the original though is that in this instance, the daughter survives and is also on hand to exact revenge.
Where as the character was not so fortunate in the first instance.

There are other obvious differences too.

We’re dealing with a much more polished vehicle this time around and dare I say it? A higher level of acting ability on show too.

Most notably for me though is how the horrid affair plays out in the woods when our antagonists prey on their victims.

This time around, it has a much harder edge, and the brutality and physicality of their actions seem a lot harder to bear.

The 1972 movie was shocking for the fact that it didn’t allow the viewer to shift away from the ordeal that took place and were left empty at the daughters’ demise.

Here though, she survives, but just barely, having to fight tooth and nail to escape with every once of her being.

Once in the ‘safety’ of her home, then things just get crazy as all hell breaks loose.

Definitely one to watch and a lot better than I thought it would be, perhaps due to Craven and Cunningham’s eyes watching over the project?

Stars: Tony Goldwyn (Ghost – and no he will never shake that off), Monica Potter (Along Came A Spider, Saw), Garret Dillahunt (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Spencer Treat Clark (Unbreakable), and Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad)

– Paul Farrell