This is the story of Jennifer, a writer who retreats to upstate New York with the intention of having peace and quiet to write a novel, who soon attracts the attention of a gang of ne'er do wells. These pleasant fellows stalk her into the woods and proceed to rape and sodomise her. They even follow her to her place of residence, destroy her manuscript, pour booze down her throat and then they rape her again. The yokels send Matthew, who is mentally backwards, to kill Jennifer but he cannot bring himself to do it. Thus Jennifer survives her ordeal, but she is deeply traumatised and you witness her trying to come to terms with what has happened to her. Eventually, she goes to church to pray and decides she will embark upon a plan of revenge. This involves the rapists dying in very suitable ways. Probably the most famous Rape/Revenge movie, I Spit On Your Grave proved to be far too violent for the BBFC. With prolonged, agonising scenes of rape and sodomy that last for a considerable amount of time, the film is harrowing to watch and it retains its power to shock in the present day. The censors are never impressed with sexualised violence, even if it is depicted in a realistic, deeply non-erotic way as in the case of Jennifer's violation. The castration scene is also downright disturbing to watch and the censors were probably perturbed by this as well. I Spit On Your Grave was successfully prosecuted for obscenity and remained banned for two decades.
My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!
