To me, the attitude of the attackers of what they did is almost as terrifying as the crime itself.As a rape/revenge exploitation movie I Spit on Your Grave 1978 (aka Day of the Woman) hits the right notes. It’s not the first rape-revenge movie, but it really shows the brutality of this terrible crime and does not glorify it at all. Even though this film is over 30 years old that part of the story still packs one hell of a punch. Watching this today, you can feel how dated it is, with the way the guys are, and the fact the rape didn’t seem to be that big of a deal, and that she probably ‘enjoyed’ it. The original title of this film was Day of the Woman, which I think is a much more fitting one, but surely not as catchy or memorable as what they went with. She sets out on her path for vengeance on each of her attackers. Little did they know that would be the least of their problems. Once the guys discover that she’s still alive, they don’t even seem to be that worried that they could be in trouble with the police. She slowly cleans herself up and starts to plot revenge. Not sure why she doesn’t call the police once she regains her senses, but she doesn’t. He leaves her laying there but tells his friends that he stabbed her just like they told him to. This time, they don’t intend to leave her alive, but leave it up to the slow-minded Matthew to finish the job, which unbeknown to them, he just can’t do. Once she is able to finally make it back to her house, right before she is able to call the police, they attack again. After each rape, they let her go or leave her there laying in the mud, only to follow her and attack her again.
They pay no attention to this poor naked girl as she lies there, covered in dirt, bleeding, and crying for help, like it’s no big deal. One of them is a slightly retarded man, who the others keep egging him on to take his turn, so he won’t be a virgin. Shortly after arriving there, she is attack, beaten, and repeatedly raped by four local young men. Camille Keaton is a writer from New York that rents a house in the woods to start writing her first novel.
When you have rape as the subject matter, what do you expect? All fun and games? One would have to do is listen to the audio commentary from Joe Bob Briggs and to hear some of the silly stuff that has been said about this title, as well as making you really see the film for what it is. That didn’t stop both Siskel and Ebert from trashing it, not only hated the film but Ebert called it “sick, reprehensible and contemptible.” No kidding, Roger. Because if they have, they would have realized that this is not shown from the point of view of the rapists, but of the victim and of the heinous crime that rape is. But obviously, they have never seen the film before they lay down their criticism. It is one that activists and critics love to point out as cruel exploitations and the way women are treated in horror films. This is one that the title alone is remembered sometimes more than the movie. Starring Camille Keaton, Eron Tabor, Richard Pace, Anthony Nichols, Gunter Kleemann
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