HORROR 101 with Dr. AC: I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (1978) TURNS 45!!!

I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (1978) d. Meir Zarchi
I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (2010) d. Stephen R. Monroe
I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE 2 (2013) d. Stephen R. Monroe
I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE: VENGEANCE IS MINE (2015) d. Richard Schenkman
I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE: DEJA VU (2019) d. Meir Zarchi
GROWING UP WITH I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (2019) (documentary) d. Terry Zarchi

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I was a relatively inexperienced viewer when I first encountered the original 1978 I Spit on Your Grave. As a result, while I understood that the terrible situation that our main character Jennifer Hills (played by Camille Keaton) was in, the execution of the story itself couldn’t get past the filter of my Hollywood-honed sensibilities, with its rough edges and middling makeup effects keeping me at a distance.

Later, as I consumed more independent and outlaw cinema, I revisited the film and was not only more affected, but markedly more impressed with what writer/director Meir Zarchi had been able to capture. Like the child who shies away from the bitterness of coffee yet later grows to appreciate a double expresso, my tastes have either sharpened or dulled (depending on your opinion) to see past the flaws wrought by meager funds and limited experience. I now see I Spit on Your Grave (aka Day of the Woman) as a vital piece of exploitation cinema, a uniquely brave and underrated examination of the reality of rape and the fantasy of revenge.

Join AC and his incredible panel of guests, Art Ettinger (Ultra Violent Magazine), Adam Rockoff (Going to Pieces, The Horror of It All), and superfan Kate Hansen as they discuss one of most infamous, notorious, and thought-provoking exploitation films ever released. This far-ranging conversation explores the original film's legacy, including spawning one of the most unlikely franchises to be thrust upon an unsuspecting public.