I Spit On Your Grave (Elite Millennium Edition)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: B+ Film: B
This is a
great flick. Beyond the boundaries of
genre, it stands on its own merits as solid entertainment. Not as artful or intricate as some, but regardless
of that, it’s unquestionably entertaining straight up to the conclusion. Sadly, director Meir Zarchi’s long overdue
follow-up, Don’t Mess With My Sister,
came as a whimper, and was nowhere close to encapsulating the sheer tension of
this film. Since that film failed to
arouse interest either commercially or artistically, he has yet to write or
direct another feature. It is a shame,
and one might wonder what could have been had he pushed himself further into
film work and perhaps been more experimental with his subject matter.
You can
read about that follow up at the following link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3001/Don't+Mess+With+My+Sister
In any
case, it would be difficult for a film to replicate the kind of energy found
here, despite the director - simply by virtue that the genre was just about
tapped out when I Spit On Your Grave
initially rolled along. For a film that
came so late in the 70’s exploitation game, it left quite an impact in spite of
its simple storyline and the linear progression toward its outcome. One thing that surely kept it buoyant was the
straight-ahead violence that, while not too far from what could be seen in your
average exploitation film of the time, never strayed too far over the top long
enough to be seen as gimmicky. This
shocked many people, and while I didn’t find myself repulsed, as many still are
to this day, it is likely due to a long period of conditioning myself by
watching violent movies for entertainment.
As
mentioned earlier, this is a flawed, but very good film. One that certainly deserves to be watched. So despite your presumptions as to the
violence or the realistic depiction of the rape sequences, I still recommend
viewing it for its more artistic merits.
The
picture quality on this disc is very good - not perfect but surely the best
print we’ll likely see until an HD edition comes about some years down the
line. The THX-approved picture is 1.85:1
is anamorphically enhanced and is as crisp as you could expect from a film of
this age with its low-budget origins and those behind the scenes of the DVD
have done a fine job representing this on disc visually.
The sound
is great here - with a selection that not only preserves the original mono
track, but also presents the soundtrack in both Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround
sound mixes. The DTS is especially nice,
and seems like more of a rarity these days, especially so on slightly more
obscure titles such as this one.
The
extras here are great as well - with the highlight being the two commentary
tracks that run the length of the picture. On top of that, there are the usual trailers,
stills and related artwork to be found. But
in all honesty, the commentary tracks are some of the most entertaining I’ve
heard yet, and both cover completely separate ground from the other. Obviously, the film stands quite well on its
own, but you could surprisingly very easily catch yourself rewatching the movie
just for these tracks, just to glean further insight on the film.
The
Millennium Edition of I Spit On Your
Grave was well handled, and probably the best out of the short run this
series enjoyed. Joe Bob Briggs is one
factor in this - his expertly given commentary track is a greatly entertaining
and informative look at the film, providing insight to some of the finer points
of the movie, as well as placing some objectivity where it’s due. It feels as though Joe Bob is providing an
excellent lecture that functions as a film history on revenge pictures, with
all ears in the viewing audience surely attentive. Pick this one up immediately - it should be
damn near a necessity for any movie fan’s collection.
- David Milchick
