I Spit on Your Grave 
                           (Astra Video PAL VHS)
                                         (1980)
                                               review by Krugg Stillo

Hailed as one of the prime instigators (alongside The Driller Killer,Cannibal Holocaust and The Last House on the Left) responsible for the VideoNasties debate in the UK, I Spit on Your Grave is a shocking film, but doesn’t deserve the notoriety it baths within. The film also defies the sexist accusations surrounding it. Its alter title; ‘Day of the Woman’ may be preferable as the male rapists gain no merit from the brutality, they are not presented as ‘good men’, and the film becomes reminiscent of Death Wish when their rape victim turns to revenge. Sailing across the lake at the end suggests she is the true victor/survivor. Gorehounds maybe a little disappointed as the film works more on its ferocious low budget power to be nasty than prosthetics and graphic gore.

A familiar exploitation plot: Jennifer is brutally gang-raped by four
hoodlums when she rents a country house near a lake to complete her first novel. Believing that all New York women are promiscuous, they chose to have some fun with her. The men kidnap her and take her into the woods where each one takes turn to viciously molest her. These are the hard parts of the film to sit through. After each rape they allow her to escape only to catch up and with her and attack once more. The film also contains one of the most memorably painful killings in the history of horror film. There isn’t much graphic violence, but the infamous line - “I can’t stop the bleeding…” will remain in male spectators’ minds long after the end credits roll.

At one point there were rumours about a sequel being made. As it stands today, it seems that we might never see ‘I Still Spit on Your Grave’. The film was banned outright and remained so until recently. Avoid the recent region2, UK VHS release as it’s been cut by the BBFC