Director: R. D. Braunstein
Distributor: Just Entertainment
Duration: 95 minutes
I Spit on Your Grave 3: Vengeance is Mine (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
‘I Spit on Your Grave’, might not be the most charming title for a movie and some might immediately wonder why there is already a third iteration of such a vile sounding movie. Nonetheless, the original movies were fairly decent in the horror genre, albeit not scary horror but more along the lines of great revenge stories. This new movie falls back to the concept of the original movie, where Jennifer Hills exacted her revenge upon the men who raped her, by sending them to an early grave. Prepare for a gore-ish experience, with not that much phlegm, as the title might suggest, but buckets of blood instead.
Jennifer Hills (Sarah Butler) has trouble getting back in the slur of everyday life and because of this she has changed her name to Angela and tried to start over. Nonetheless, she is seeking counsel from a psychiatrist, who advised her to join a support group. Reluctantly she tries out the idea, yet she is never able to open up to the group about what happened to her. Luck has it that due to circumstances she is able to befriend one of the other rape victims, namely Marla Finch (Jennifer Landon). Marla might be scarred by her past as well, but she tends to believe in other things than forgive and forget, and has a more aggressive approach to things. When the young Cassie (Megan Raich) breaks down in the group after being raped for the umpteenth time by her stepfather Ron (Christopher Hoffman), Marla decides to pay the man a visit, whilst Jennifer tags along unknowingly. After a hefty ‘beatdown’, Ron has a change of heart, promising to leave Cassie alone, at least thanks to Jennifer, as Marla would have killed him on the spot.
Things seem to be looking bright for the girls, as Cassie comes to group quite happy the next time, but something seems to be bothering Marla. When Jennifer asks her to tag along to celebrate what they accomplished by scaring off Ron, Marla states she has business with her abusive ex-boyfriend, who still has some of her personal items. When the police shows up at the next meeting, after the group heard Marla was murdered, Jennifer tends to get wound up in her thought. Nonetheless, detective McDylan (Gabriel Hogan) seems to be eager to fight for justice, albeit by the book. Of course, if things went this swimmingly, there would be no need for revenge, yet. Due to lack of circumstantial evidence, Marla’s ex-boyfriend gets released, even though it’s pretty clear he is the culprit. All of this brings up Jennifer’s urge to take matters into her own hands once again, as she is not shy to take the life of those who do harm to others. It seems that some people will never learn and thus they should be put six feet under.
The flow of the movie was just the right pace, with a proper buildup and a few gruesome ‘finales’ towards the end. You’ll not only receive enough information of what is currently going on, but also what has occurred in the first movie, which helps sketch Jennifer’s experience, thoughts and shift in personality.
It’s clear Jennifer is not fond of people anymore due to the fact that a group of people raped her in the past. Not only was being raped by five men a horrible experience but knowing that a sheriff was among the perpetrators made her believe that there is hardly any good left in this rotten world. Nonetheless, it’s interesting to see her try and pick up a normal life, but she is still battling inner demons, not only in the form of seeking counsel, but also with the many violent thoughts that go through her mind at any given time. Jennifer is often found fantasizing how to brutally murder those who annoy her, or do her harm, often when simply speaking to those people.
The violent scenes are done very convincingly, which is not that common in the genre. The ‘fights’ and punishments look rather realistic, not only due to the acting, but also the effects used are very convincing. There are a few very explicit scenes which are gruesome to watch, yet in a strange way interesting to see, as the explicitness makes things even more brutal.
As the movie revolves mainly around Jennifer and her gruesome experiences, she tends to be the main focus of the story. She is played by Sarah Butler, who does a great job going from rather stable behavior to that of judge and very gruesome executioner. The shift in her behavioral pattern is actually rather sublime, not knowing if you have to cheer on her actions of revenge, or fear her the next time you leave the toilet seat up.
In a way we were sad to see that this Blu-ray release did not come with any extras. Whilst there were not that many interesting ideas for possible extras, perhaps it would have been fun to see how certain gory scenes were made, or maybe a bit more background information about the first movie. Nonetheless, the movie still does very well, even without special features.
Conclusion
“I Spit on Your Grave 3: Vengeance is Mine” is one of those rare horror series that still does a great job after the release of the first movie. Not only will fans of brutal movies have a field day, also those who love to see someone go from normal to psycho in mere moments will have their pick of the litter. Come for the concept, stay for the violence and shiver for the many things one could do to you.
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Iron bar, in the anus
10/10 would watch again