I Spit on Your Grave

For the 2010 remake, see I Spit on Your Grave (2010 film). For the unrelated 1946 novel, see I Spit on Your Graves.

I Spit on Your Grave
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMeir Zarchi
Written byMeir Zarchi
Produced byJoseph Zbeda
Starring
CinematographyYuri Haviv
Edited byMeir Zarchi
Production
company
Cinemagic Pictures
Distributed byThe Jerry Gross Organization
Release date
  • November 22, 1978 (1978-11-22)
Running time
102 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$80,000[2]

I Spit on Your Grave (originally titled Day of the Woman) is a 1978 American rape-and-revenge film written and directed by Meir Zarchi. The film tells the story of Jennifer Hills (Camille Keaton), a fiction writer based in New York City who exacts revenge on her four tormentors who gang rape and leave her for dead.

I Spit on Your Grave is noted for its controversial depiction of extreme graphic violence, particularly the lengthy depictions of gang rape, that take up 30 minutes of its runtime. During its wider release, it was branded a "video nasty" in the United Kingdom, and was a target of censorship by film commissioning bodies.[3][4] Film critic Roger Ebert became one of the most notable detractors of I Spit on Your Grave, calling it "a vile bag of garbage".[5]

The film remains highly controversial to this day, even being considered to be one of the worst ever made. For some, it is this controversy which has led to it being deemed a cult classic.[6] Despite the controversy and overwhelmingly negative reviews, the performance of Keaton was praised by critics. In 2010, I Spit on Your Grave was included in Time magazine's "Top 10 Ridiculously Violent Movies".[7]

The film spawned a 2010 remake, which has since spawned two sequels of its own: I Spit on Your Grave 2 (2013), and I Spit on Your Grave III: Vengeance Is Mine (2015). A direct sequel, I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu, was released in 2019 with Zarchi and Keaton both returning.

In her memoir Inside Out, Demi Moore confirmed that she is the scantily clad woman on the film's poster with her back turned.[8]

  1. ^ "I Spit on Your Grave (1978)". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  2. ^ "Day of the Woman: Feminist Revenge Exploitation in I Spit on Your Grave (1978)". Diabolique Magazine. May 3, 2019. Retrieved May 3, 2019.
  3. ^ Phelan, Laurence. "Film censorship: How moral panic led to a mass ban of 'video nasties'". The Independent. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  4. ^ "I Spit On Your Grave". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved February 19, 2017.
  5. ^ Ebert, Roger (July 16, 1980). "I Spit on Your Grave Movie Review (1980)". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  6. ^ Hardy, Ernest (September 18, 2013). "Full of Gruesome Sexual Violence, I Spit on Your Grave 2 Is an Unnecessary Sequel". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on March 1, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  7. ^ "Top 10 Ridiculously Violent Movies". Time. September 3, 2010. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010.
  8. ^ "Demi Moore Memoir Bombshells: Ashton Kutcher, Bruce Willis, Drug Abuse and Family Drama". September 24, 2019.