20 Most Controversial Movies Of All Time

15. I Spit On Your Grave

One of the most hotly debated horror films of all times, Meir Zarchi€™'s I Spit On Your Grave is either pornographically violent and degrading to women, or a brutal but potentially empowering tale of pro-feminist strength, depending on who you ask. The story is simple enough, starting when a young woman moves to a new town to work on her writing. Once there, she'€™s beaten, raped and left for dead by a group of men in scenes of astonishing (even by today'€™s standards) brutality. After the attack, she tracks down the men and exacts bloody, bloody revenge on them.

There had been other rape-revenge films before (Thriller: A Cruel Film, The Last House on the Left), but I Spit On Your Grave seemed to strike more of a nerve because of how unwavering the film was in depicting its violence. Some critics (including a very vocal Roger Ebert) argued that the film was reveling in the heinous acts that it should'€™ve been condemning. Several countries banned the film completely on the grounds that it celebrated violence against women.

But the film did have some supporters, or, at least, those who saw it in another light. Several critics and scholars, including Carol J. Clover (author of Men, Women and Chain Saws), took the view that the film actually forced the viewer to sympathize with the victim instead of the attackers, and thus, was not anti-woman, but pro-woman in endorsing her revenge against the cruelty of her would be male dominators. This seems to be director Zarachi€™'s intent as well, as the film was originally titled Day of the Woman.

Whatever side of the argument of the argument you find yourself on, I Spit On Your Grave is sure to to be one of the roughest films your ever likely to see.