Blu-ray discs and DVDs are great for serving up original takes envisioned by directors before the MPAA gets a hold of them. If you already expect to be shocked by the movie “I Spit On Your Grave” then the unrated Blu-ray disc shouldn’t be so surprising.
As one reviewer in the UK pointed out, initial reports of people fainting during the original presentation in Canada led to many cuts in the theatrical release in Europe. The original film directed by Steven Monroe and released in 2010 is restored in the home release.
Movie Summary
Jennifer Hills (played by Sarah Butler) is a novelist in need of inspiration. She heads to a secluded cabin which is in need of repair but then runs into difficulties with local yokels at a gas station. They come to her rental space and repeatedly rape her and violate Hills in every single way.
The men leave her for dead and she stays secluded for a month. During that time she plots her revenge. The unrated version contains brutal depictions of sexual acts and is a bloody gore fest. The Blu-ray version has more gruesome scenes than those in the toned-down theatrical version.
Blu-ray Review
The most effective part of the Blu-ray release are the added scenes taken out of the theaters. The unrated version is horribly real and despicable in every sense of the word. By the end of the movie you wonder if any of the people are truly human or merely animals in disguise.
Nothing on the Blu-ray release is any different from the regular DVD release. Everything just simply looks better in digital. Either way, “I Spit on Your Grave” is disturbing at best and revolting at worst.
Audio commentary and behind-the-scenes content offer the same in the way of most extras on DVDs. The deleted scenes don’t offer any more insight into the focus of the movie – the blood spewed all over the screen was plenty.
Even a supposed tribute to the original 1978 film isn’t worth the extra space on the Blu-ray. All that happens is the new cast and crew gush over the original as they try to live up to scope of the controversial Meir Zarchi movie.
The best thing with the Blu-ray transfer is the digital rendering of the scenery and the bloodbath. As much as I hate to say it, horror movies actually do look better on Blu-ray. The surrounding forest near the cabin is well-done in a visual respect. The audio was equally as deafening and worth the Blu-ray treatment. If you can see past the one-dimensional characters, the setting, and horrifying acts of human indignity, these features more than make up for the otherwise lame movie.
The original “I Spit On Your Grave” was brutal for 1978. The newer version goes beyond it and is equally as controversial as the first movie. The 2010 movie was in limited release and Roger Ebert called it “despicable.” If Stephen King’s “Misery” was remade into something much more horrifying, this is it.
The Blu-ray will probably make more money for the producers and the studio than the actual time it spent in movie theaters. People who want to be shocked, appalled, and disgusted will find their emotions unsettled when they see this film. If you have nightmares for a week you are considered lucky.
The Blu-ray release will not sell many copies as only die-hard horror fans will like it. Horrible reviews and negative publicity may not be enough to save the finances of the production. Anchor Bay may not have realized what it was getting into when it green lit the project.
“I Spit On Your Grave” is unrated on its new Blu-ray disc. Amazon is selling the disc for only $16, probably to try to move more copies as it is much cheaper than many Blu-ray releases.
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