Anyone who is familiar with the old school cult classics is probably also familiar with a controversial rape/revenge flick from the 70's called I Spit On Your Grave. In my opinion, a film that is eqaually misunderstood as it is overrated. I liked it okay, but didn't love it. However, I do find interesting the influence it has had on the world of modern B-Horror and Exploitation. Today, I'd like to talk about three overlooked micro-budget films which have been released over the years, that have either ripped off or are inspired by the legendary king, or Queen, rather, of Rape/Revenge.




Last year, news broke of plans for a sequel to the original I Spit On Your Grave, entitled I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu, with Camille Keaton finally reprising her role as Jennifer Hills. A lot of people probably don't know this, but I Spit On Your Grave already has a sequel. Well, sort of. More like an unofficial sequel. And one that is far beneath the original, in my opinion. Shot-on-video in 1993, Savage Vengeance was directed by 80's S.O.V. legend, Donald Farmer, who was responsible for such abominations as Demon Queen, Scream Dream and Cannibal Hookers. All far more entertaining than this piece of shit. I have no idea how Farmer got a hold of this B-actress for this Z-movie, but good for him. Too bad it was so boring.



Camille Keaton more or less reprises her role as "Jennifer". A woman who was found innocent after inflicting some brutal revenge on the four men who raped her some years ago. Jennifer, now a law student, is deciding to hang it up due to the professor pissing her off, and is now planning a trip out to the country with a girlfriend. A new gang of fuckers make trouble. Rapes happen, as does vengeance. Attempts at making this so-called sequel more grotesque fall very much flat. This movie had potential, but just isn't that interesting. Savage Vengeance was originally released in the early 90's as a part of the "I Will Dance On Your Grave" series on vhs, along with Cannibal Hookers, Lethal Victims and Killing Spree. But now lives on within the Massacre Video dvd catalogue. Only S.O.V. completists and Camille Keaton obsessers should take notice. 3/10



In 2001, Director, Eric Stanze (Ice From The Sun, Scrapbook) came up with a film somewhat inspired by I Spit On Your Grave, but with a bit of a dark twist, and once again, attempts at pushing things even further, mostly in tastelessness. This little gem from Sub Rosa Extreme is about a woman named Sandy, who looks and sounds like Trudy from Reno 911! A homely, dykish woman who gets a call from her low life boyfriend who just broke out of prison. He needs help and she's a pushover when it comes to this guy who is obviously very bad for her. Sandy meets Kevin in a house where he has three people held captive in the basement, who they both know and have their own seperate beef with. At first we think there's about to be three murders, but soon realize Kevin's planning four. Before he can do anything, Sandy turns the tables, and kills him.

Now completely liberated, Sandy, whom we assumed was a decent person, decides to not let these people go, but instead have a little fun and get out some long pent up agression. What follows is some uncomfortable scenes of torture and humiliation which includes Sandy forcing one guy to take a shit and then eat it after burning his dick tip with a cigarette. One guy gets shot in his dick after refusing to fuck the other guy's shitty asshole. Another guy, who Sandy doesn't seem to care much for, gets ass raped with a big stick which atleast has a condom on it. So, atleast we know she's not completely heartless. I'm sure. I Spit On Your Corpse, I Piss On Your Grave is far more grimy and mean spirited than the film it was inspired by, and also far more pointless. Not a great movie. Not even good. But for fans of the extreme, it might be something worth looking into. 4/10



And now, for a drastic change of pace. The year is 2008. This here parody of I Spit On Your Grave is mostly just a parody/throwback of old, low-budget Grindhouse flicks, in general. Directed by Chris Seaver, who is by far the most prolific micro-budget director of the last decade, putting out such Horror comedies as Mulva: Zombie Ass Kicker! and Terror At Blood Fart Lake. A guy who has brought us over 60 bad but upbeat B-movies over the years. A lot of which are better than this one, yet, I Spit Chew seems to be one of the more popular ones. Although, Seaver has gone on record, stating himself what a piece of shit this is. Chris Seaver has been somewhat of a director-for-hire by SRS Cinema (formerly Sub Rosa) off and on, so, it's not always his decision what direction he takes. This one being a good example of that. But even when out of his element, a Chris Seaver movie is a Chris Seaver movie.

I Spit Chew On Your Grave stars LBP regular, Josh Suire, reprising his role as Leo DeChamp, not for the first nor last time. Leo wins the lottery, eats some Toblerone, hangs out with his wigger pal, picks up some chicks who end up violating his asshole and balls at the request of Gareth, a David Bowie from Labyrinth lookalike. At 58 minutes, there's not a hell of a lot more to say about it, storywise. This is one weird movie, though. Even for Seaver. I Spit Chew On Your Grave quickly loses track of what it started out as, and gets more and more ridiculous with stupid bullshit and random references you might recognize in other Seaver flicks, such as Toblerone and Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air. I get the feeling ol' Seavage doesn't really give a shit about I Spit On Your Grave, and as usual, decided to have a little fun with his friends and make a ridiculous movie that no one could ever take seriously. Mission accomplished! 5/10



And there you have it. An unofficial sequel, an homage, and a really, really bad parody, with one thing in common. A connection to one of the most notorious Exploitation films of the 70's. Is I Spit On Your Grave worthy of such attention and admiration while other would-be cult classics from the same era go unappreciated, and in some cases, undiscovered? Probably not. but there's just something about a 22 minute rape scene that sticks with you. But maybe it's more than that. Maybe it's also the shocking forms of revenge, the eerie lack of a score, the retard which adds much needed comedy relief, as well as the women's lib vibe that is always present. Which is what this movie is really about. It was originally called Day Of The Woman, after all. A more suitable title, in my opinion. Then again, it may not have gained the reputation it did, or even the undeserved hate. Something about "I Spit On Your Grave" seems to rub people the wrong way. While others, it makes them feel all warm and fuzzy inside.