I Spit on Your Grave (2010) – Blu-ray Review

The Film:

I wish I could have been there to see the look on Roger Ebert’s face when he had to watch the remake of a film he notoriously smashed and banned. Did a remake of I Spit on Your Grave need to occur? I don’t know, let’s not get to existential with it, but as famous and rough as that 1978 film is, it’s far from a technically good picture. Steven R. Monroe directs a beautiful tale of woe and insecurities, that even with its Rambo-styled finale (the revenge), the taboo nature of rape is long echoed after the credits.

Thorough director Meir Zarchi’s 1978 exploitation classic, a sense of feminism was prevalent, even if it was heavy-handed. Camille Keaton’s emotional turn as Jennifer Hills still is chilling. But even with all of this, the film is rather poorly made, with odd pacing and long-winded takes. Of course, Monroe fixes this, as the first hour is as good as any recent American thriller. Too bad, the finale and the promised revenge is haplessly emotionless. Credit the actors in making the subject worthy of further exploration, but when her brutalized body is naked, falling backwards into the lake, this Christ-like position is odd. In the original, Jennifer internally asks God for His permission to exact revenge against the rapists. In 2010, the Death and Resurrection of Jennifer is seemingly to heavy-handed and underdeveloped. Especially since she disappears for about 20 minutes after her “death”.

The Saw-like traps in which she exacts her vengeance is outlandish and ultimately, backfires. Jennifer is handled with such grace and cuteness, that when she is raped and brutalized, these sequence echo the one last innocence a woman holds true to. Rape is taboo in discussion and especially in film, so these overly gratifying kills undermine the intentions of purity versus violation. Camille Keaton’s revenge was satisfying for one reason only, and not because they deserved it (they did). She wasn’t an all-out bad-ass killer, but a girl blindly seeking a moment of clarity. We buy into her mentality. Here in 2010, Jennifer is borderline supernatural, making the film more of a man’s nightmarish fear, than a feminist stance.

Still, if I Spit on Your Grave needed to be remade, this is a slick, well-craft revenge tale. Sarah Butler is great, and needed to be. Bold, beautiful, and dangerous. It serves as a strict reminder than maybe taboos are such because we still fear talking about them. Sickos exist, just as hick versus city folk angst does. Some things one cannot control, but a sense of self-worth is. That’s what is great about a character like Jennifer Hills.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Anchor Bay/Starz offers up a wicked HD disc. This film looks cinematic, unlike the documentary appearance of Zarchi’s original, and the transfer handles the darks, the blues, the details with grace. Dolby TrueHD track on this Blu-ray disc is quite good. Creative aspects aside on the nature of the score versus the non-score in the original, shouldn’t hurt the nice bass and active mix. Dialogue is really clear and precise.

Commentary: Director Monroe and producer Lisa Hansen offer up a great chat about the production and some of the tougher elements in the film to do, as well as, the controversy that the film’s title brought to their production. It’s informative, in-depth, and an easy listen. Good stuff.

The Revenge of Jennifer Hills: Remaking a Cult Icon: In SD (sadly), this is more or less, an EPK on the making-of the film, with interviews and what-have-you.

12 minutes of some Deleted Scenes, Trailers, and a Digital Copy finish out the extras.

Conclusion: Still controversial in our time, 32 years after the original, but at least it’s still thought-provoking and well-made. Not for the squeamish.

The Film: Rating:

The Blu-ray: Rating: