I Spit on Your Grave
Steven R. Monroe, 2010
2 Stars
When it comes to video nasties, Meir Zarchi’s 1978 shocker Day of the Woman is something of a classic. Not because it’s any good of course, but simply because it’s pretty darn horrendous in every way; a writer flees from the city after being gang-raped, finding solace in the peaceful countryside, only to find herself gang-raped again, for forty or so minutes of grimy and poorly shot gloom. Thereafter, she wanders around naked for the rest of the film, taking bloody revenge on the yokels, culminating in cutting off one of her attackers’ todger in a bathtub. It’s bloody awful, and of all the “classic” horror film that seem to be inevitably remade of late, this is probably the most unnecessary.
But yay. Remake.
The story is the same; writer, rape, revenge. And to be honest, it’s quite as dull as the original, but in a rather different way. For one thing, the attempted characterisation of the thugs during the first thirty minutes of film is quite tiresome, and I must admit, I found myself drifting in and out of caring up until the mandatory sexual assault. There’s some rather amusing menacing along the way; Chad Lindberg (Dave from the first season of Buffy) plays Matthew the Retard, and does a pretty good job of it too, with a bizarre mix of lust and guilt, especially during the lead-up to the infamous scene, whilst Jeff Branson is pretty good as head thug Johnny. And the gay chappy from Mean Girls is a hilariously strange casting choice as one of the group. But are they scary? No. Not really. And it takes Andrew Howard’s corrupt sheriff, whose character really doesn’t work at all, to actually crowbar some menace into proceedings.
The rape itself is pretty vile, though not in comparison to the gritty aplomb of the original, where it was performed with such painful believability, and to be frank, it’s just a bit old hat these days – the reason these films were so shocking in the 70s was ‘cause nobody had done it before… Ho hum…
Sarah Butler as the innocent victim does a good job with her role, and her revenge is harsh and justified. Death scenes are inspired, raising the film’s star rating from a single pointer, and the castration scene loses the laughableness of the original, delivering a truly nauseating chop.
All in all, it’s not one for the family, and a bit of a needless attempt to cash in on the reputation of its forefather, complete with anal rape by rifle. Hazah!
A Serbian Film
Srdjan Spasoevic, 2010
Somewhere between 0 and 5 Stars
It takes a great deal for a horror film to affect me these days. Having seen so very much trite over the last decade and a half of devouring the genre, I have become rather disaffected by the whole malarkey. As such, for a film to actually have a lasting physical and psychological impact on me… Well, it’s either got to be something utterly amazing, or the most depraved, disgusting material ever put to celluloid.
A Serbian Film is arguably both.
Following the tragic tale of a retired porn star in poverty stricken Serbia, this is a film that manages to explore the darkest boundaries of human sexual depravation. Suggesting that pornography should be a boundary pushing art form, one made to shock and inspire utmost controversy, budding film maker Sergej Trifunovic enlists our “hero”, a somehow touching Srdjan Todorovic, to take part in his new venture, promising that he will never have to work again upon completion of the picture.
Milos soon finds himself drugged, beaten and thrust into a world of paedophilia, necrophilia, and “newborn porn” before ultimately being tricked into anally raping his own son whilst his brother shags his unconscious wife. In a spate of drug-induced fury, he then proceeds to kill a man by thrusting his erect member into his eye socket.
Yes.
Seriously.
This is a real film.
Real life director Spasojevic argues this to be political allegory. Every other critic slates it as a mere “out to shock” endeavour. Either way, it certainly leaves you in a state of somekind… Personally, I was nauseated, disgusted, depressed and yet somehow impressed. Indeed, it’s difficult to place a rating on such a film; on one hand, it’s truly horrendous, but on the other, it’s cleverly made, thought provoking, and probably one of the most powerful movies you’ll ever have the displeasure to watch.
But should you watch it? I wouldn’t recommend it. But surely that’s recommendation enough.
But seriously, you probably shouldn’t.
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