One of the most notorious of all 1970’s exploitation films and perhaps the key rape-revenge text, Meir Zarchi’s I Spit on Your Grave still holds a fierce and feared reputation forty years since its release. As divisive now as it was then, the film also has a complex censorship history, and remains cut in the UK to this day.
With Zarchi’s long-belated sequel I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu hitting screens this year and marking the 40th anniversary of the original, this couldn’t be more timely. Due to land on shelves this month is David Maguire’s I Spit on Your Grave, a book delving into the history and making of the film. It is published by Wallflower Press, and is set for release on March 27th. Read on for the official write-up!
“There is no denying that Meir Zarchi’s I Spit on Your Grave (1978) deserves its title as one of the most controversial films ever made. While many condemn it as misogynistic, others praise it for raising uncomfortable issues about sexual violence. While its reputation as a cult film has undoubtedly been cemented by its unique position in the 1970s/80s exploitation era and the “video nasties” scandal, it has also become mythologized by its own official and unofficial franchises.
David Maguire examines why the film still continues to provoke fierce debate forty years on, not only investigating the historical, social, and political landscape into which the film was first released—and condemned—but also examining how it is has inadvertently become ground zero for the rape-revenge genre because of its countless imitators. The book explores how academic study has reevaluated the film’s importance as a cultural statement on gender, the conflicting readings that it throws up, the timeless appeal of its story as examined through folklore and mythology, and its updating to reflect contemporary issues in a post-9/11 world of vengeance and retaliation.”
Words: Kevan Farrow (@KevanX)