Review of I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by Darren C — 25 May 2012

If you go to watch a movie such as I Spit on your Grave, you don?t really expect to see award-winning performances, fantastic dialogue or a sensational and gripping story but you do expect scenes that may make you squirm in your seat, bloody scenes and a new meaning of the word ?revenge?. I Spit on your Grave is the remake of the controversial seventies movie that was banned mostly because of it?s drawn-out sexually violent scenes. Watching the remade version, it?s actually quite good and is better than the original in a lot of ways. A writer is tormented and brutally attacked by a group of men in her cabin and seeks revenge on them in possibly one of the most disturbing horror movies that is not for the faint-hearted or the weak-stomached. What makes this better than the original? Better performances from its actors and actresses, the offending sexual content doesn?t go on for very long and the revenge is more bloody and violent. I Spit on your Grave?s bloody revenge story is something that isn?t really written so brilliantly but it is pretty good. The story will please many horror fans and it will most likely have them talking about a few of the gory scenes but the problem with the story is that there are a couple of long, dull moments. There?s hardly any originality to the movie as it?s been done quite a few times before excluding the original. The whole movie is basically a revenge story of a normal woman who turns psycho on the psychos and so it doesn?t really add anything new to the horror-revenge genre but it is a good watch as we see good defeat evil in a brutal style. Even though the acting is a lot better in the remake than it was in the original, it wasn?t anything special but it was pretty good. Sarah Butler is great as tormented Jennifer Hills in what must have been such a tough role for her and the actors who played the disgusting villains were good as well.

Director Steven Monroe knows how to make a worthwhile remake with a good revenge story as well as blood and gore aplenty. He also doesn?t focus on the rape scenes as much as the original did but more so on the revenge scenes and how the men were panicking and worrying about being caught out, which is a great thing. The characters were written well and you felt how you were supposed to feel about every one of them, however the dialogue was mediocre but it went with the movie quite well as its main focus was the attack and the revenge. I would recommend I Spit on your Grave to those who like a good revenge story, however do not watch this movie if you have a weak-stomach, a faint-heart or if you?re easily upset or offended. Even though the remake does focus less on the rape, it still makes for uncomfortable viewing.

Along with quite a few other people, I am also fed up of Hollywood remaking movies from the seventies or eighties with the remake only turning out pointless, unoriginal and unworthy of it?s source material. However, the remake of I Spit on your Grave is better than the original because it focuses much more on the revenge than the attack and, even though the attack is quite brutal, her revenge is even more so. Although I Spit on your Grave is much better than the original, it doesn?t stand out because of it?s gruesome story but more because of it?s brutally tormenting scenes, which is the same reason why most remember it. This really does put other gory torture movies such as SAW and Hostel to shame.