I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE

Author David Maguire does a great job at looking past the unpleasantness of this film and give's a thought-provoking book about the many ways this film can be viewed: as pure exploitation, as a feminist film, as a tantalizing male fantasy, or as social commentary that some men of the time were feeling threatened by independent, sexually confident women after the wave of feminism that came during the 1960s & 1970s. It also discusses how the film was marketed, banned/censored in some countries (in the UK during the 1980s for example during the "video nasties" period) and even at times retitled to avoid censorship (the film has been known under other titles such as DAY OF THE WOMAN, I HATE YOUR GUTS and THE RAPE AND REVENGE OF JENNIFER HILL). While the film and book deal with this uneasy subject, I feel they both ask society important questions about rape. During the time the film was made, victims of rape were still being blamed based upon what they wore, how they acted, what part of town she was in, etc. The book also deals with its legacy and how it was a trailblazer for the rape-revenge subgenre as well as the remake and sequels its sparked in recent years (the remake was made in 2010, with the first sequel coming in 2013 and the second sequel in 2015). Rumor has it the director of the original, Meir Zarchi, is actually making and releasing an official sequel this year to commemorate the release of the original entitled: I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE: DEJA VU.