Abstract

Film critic Joe Bob Briggs opens his DVD audio commentary for the cult classic rape/revenge film, I Spit On Your Grave , with a simple proposition, “What we’re going to decide here is this the most disgusting movie ever made or is it the most feminist movie ever made ?” Directed by Meir Zarchi, I Spit On Your Grave stands as a staple of exploitation cinema, courting considerable controversy in its representation of rape and revenge. With a remake of I Spit On Your Grave already in production, following on from a recent wave of 1970s-era horror remakes and The Last House On The Left for example), the original I Spit On Your Grave deserves reappraisal as a piece of cinema . 2 I Spit On Your Grave was once despised as a “video nasty,” which we can see in a print review Briggs wrote concerning its VHS release: “This flick is considered ‘the most disgusting movie ever made’ by Ebert the Wimp and Siskel the Simp, who went on TV for two, three years tellin [sic] everybody that it makes men want to rape women, which is why the theaters quit running it.” 3 Released to DVD by Force Entertainment, the controversy over its release both in theatres and on video was used as a marketable element with the cover informing us that Grave was “Previously Banned” and still stands as “The Most Controversial Revenge Film Ever Made.” The copy on the back-cover reiterates Briggs’ question over the film’s critical and moral value as something that has to be decided upon by the willing viewer: Banned for 17 years by the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification, the original, uncut version of I Spit On Your Grave has long been called too ugly, too violent and too terrifying to watch. Others have called it a powerful and superb cinema. Judge For Yourself