Exploring the Controversial Legacy of Meir Zarchi’s ‘I Spit on Your Grave’ [The Lady Killers Podcast]

“What about me, Matthew? We were going to be friends. Remember?”

Rape revenge films have always been controversial. Roger Ebert famously called the genre-defining I Spit on Your Grave “a vile bag of garbage” in response to its extended scenes of brutal rape. But fans of the genre—including many survivors of sexual assault—find catharsis and empowerment in films that treat rape as a serious act worthy of avenging.

With graphic attacks that account for nearly ⅓ of the run-time, Meir Zarchi’s 1978 film is definitely not an easy watch, but should it be? And doesn’t this discomfort merely point a daming finger back at a society that views female justice as a transgressive act?

Jennifer Hills (Camille Keaton) is a short story author working on her first novel. She’s rented a country house on an idyllic river hoping to find the peace and quiet she needs to write. But a group of local men become fixated on the strikingly beautiful woman and set out to ruin her life.

On a quiet summer day, they drag her out of her red canoe and repeatedly rape her in the woods outside her rented home. Just when she feels like she’s finally escaped, they return for another attack and command the weak Matthew (Richard Pace) to stab her to death. But when the fragile man is unable to act, Jennifer finds the strength to seek revenge. Using their own weapons against them, she turns the tables on her attackers and makes them pay bitterly for what they’ve done. 

In the latest episode of Bloody FM’s The Lady Killers Podcast, co-hosts Jenn Adams and Sammie Kuykendall are joined by special guest Mary Beth McAndrews to talk about Zarchi’s notorious film and the rape-revenge subgenre as a whole. Does I Spit on Your Grave glorify violence against women? What does Keaton have to say about her powerful role? How does Zarchi play with color and do we need to believe the logistics of Jennifer’s revenge? They’ll muse on these questions and more while exploring the legacy of this important film.

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