Day of the Woman (1978)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Meir Zarchi

Writer:

Meir Zarchi (writer)

Release Date:

3 November 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The ultimate day of terror!

Plot:

An aspiring writer is repeatedly gang-raped, humiliated, and left for dead by four men whom she systematically hunts down to seek revenge.

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Rape | Blood Bath | Cabin | Suspenders

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Camille Keaton	...	Jennifer Hills
Eron Tabor	...	Johnny
Richard Pace	...	Matthew Lucas
Anthony Nichols	...	Stanley
Gunter Kleemann	...	Andy
Alexis Magnotti	...	Attendant's Wife
Tammy Zarchi	...	The Children
Terry Zarchi	...	The Children
Traci Ferrante	...	Waitress
William Tasgal	...	Porter (as Bill Tasgal)
Isaac Agami	...	Butcher (as Isac Agami)
Ronit Haviv	...	Supermarket Girl

Also Known As:

I Hate Your Guts
I Spit on Your Grave (USA) (reissue title)
The Rape and Revenge of Jennifer Hill (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

100 min | Argentina:95 min | UK:93 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R (edited for re-rating) | USA:Unrated (uncut video version) | USA:X (original rating) | Finland:(Banned) (cut) (1980) | Finland:K-18 (2006) | Australia:(Banned) (1997-2004) | Australia:R (original rating) (cut) | Australia:R (2004) (uncut) | Italy:VM18 | Thailand:(Banned) | China:(Banned) | Singapore:(Banned) | Malaysia:(Banned) | Philippines:(Banned) | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Norway:15 (uncut) (2006) | New Zealand:(Banned) (original rating) | Sweden:15 (uncut) (2006) | France:-16 | South Korea:18 (DVD rating: 2002) (uncut) | Italy:T (DVD) (special edition) | Argentina:18 | Canada:(Banned) (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:(Banned) (Ontario) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) (video rating) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (1998) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | Iceland:(Banned) | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 (re-rating) (2004) | Norway:(Banned) (video version) (1982) | South Korea:18 (heavily cut) | West Germany:(Banned) | UK:(Banned) (1984-2001) | UK:18 (heavily cut) | Ireland:(Banned) (2002) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Connecticut, USA

Company:

Cinemagic Pictures

Trivia:

The film was passed uncut in Australia until December 1997. It was banned from December 1997 until June 2004.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Matthew is backing to the house to kill Jennifer, the way he holds the knife changes during one shot.

Quotes:

[after his gang beats and rapes Jennifer]
Stanley: Total submission. That's what I like in a woman - total submission.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bad Reputation (2005)

Soundtrack:

Sola Perduta Abandonnato

Don't dismiss because of title.

I Spit On Your Grave has the worst title in history next to Attack of the Clones! This is not the campy, horror, gore fest you expect, it's an angrier, nastier take on deliverance.

A you writer goes to a secluded cabin for the summer to write her first novel.

Three local twenty-something's and the town idiot snatch her in the woods, take turns rapping and tormenting her, and in an obviously moronic move, put the dumb guy in charge of killing her. Well, he just can't do it and when she recovers she gets even.

What's working here is that there's a true emotional bond between the character and the audience. She's harassed a bit at first, then when a couple of the guys try for her attention and she turns her back they decided she's a tease and just needs to be getting some to come around. One by one they take her, let her go, then surround her again. The rapes are brutal, but honest, clumsy, messy, bloody affairs, her situation is tragic and hopeless and her revenge more than justified.

She has a gun, she could waste her time and ours being Chuck Bronson and just shooting them, but instead she plays them. She draws them back, seduces them, then Hangs, Castrates, Axes and out-board motor's them. The tag line says there's five men, they can't count, there's only four.

There's a genuine film under all the gore and fact that our protagonist spends nearly 80% of the film completely naked. However her emotions are as exposed as her body, her transformation from normality, to victim, through recovery and finally as executioner.