I Spit on Your Grave (1978)

3 Stars (out of 4)

Day of the Woman

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

In this notorious horror movie, a young woman (Camille Keaton) suffers a multiple rape by four brain-dead hillbillies, then hunts down and kills them all. During its original release, Siskel & Ebert and other writers and activists protested loudly and effectively snuffed it. Now here it is in a newly restored version from Elite Entertainment with a director commentary track. But the true stroke of genius is the commentary track by legendary drive-in movie critic Joe Bob Briggs (a.k.a. John Bloom). A brilliant satirist who really knows his subject, Briggs takes us through the film step-by-step, making us laugh while putting the whole picture into ridiculously logical perspective. Anyone seriously interested in the social impact of film should see this. In 2011, Anchor Bay re-released it on Blu-Ray, with all the great extras intact.

In 2020, Ronin Flix released the undeniably powerful I Spit on Your Grave in a truly impressive 3-disc Blu-ray box set. The original uncut movie comes re-mastered in a beautiful 4K transfer, even if the movie itself can hardly be called the same. It includes a ton of extras, including the legendary Joe Bob commentary track, which is certainly one of the greatest commentaries of all time, if not the greatest. Next, we get Zarchi's 2019 sequel, I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu, which, at 2 hours and 38 minutes, is absurdly long, and -- as far as I can tell -- not very good (I didn't make it very far). Joe Bob provides a commentary track for this one as well, and he seems just as unsure. Finally, and more appreciated, is the full-length documentary Growing Up with I Spit on Your Grave, directed by Zarchi's son Terry, who made a small appearance in the original film as a small boy. Each disc comes with plenty of extras, and the giant, limited edition box also includes such goodies as posters and magnets. Highly recommended.