by Nikk Nelson

The Unboxing

Ronin Flix has a lot of competition these days in the game of special edition re-releases of chronically unavailable cult classics. I’m here to say they’ve got a solid formula from what I’ve seen so far with the collector’s edition boxset of I Spit on Your Grave. I really dig their logo, first of all, and it’s front and center on the giftbox. This was the first thing I appreciated about the packaging. Other companies shift their discs loose in a plain box. Don’t worry, they stuff paper in with it. I can’t count the number of times I get movies, open up the case, and the disc has been flopping around in it across who knows how many states. Luckily, most of the time, the disc isn’t scratched. But it’s the principle. Ronin Flix solved that immediate problem by giving us a dedicated box—one you don’t want to throw away. Inside, the boxset is snug in its own cardboard insert, so it hasn’t been shifting around during shipping. The second correct thing, and the most important thing to me when it comes to collections, is each film, I Spit on Your Grave (1978), I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu (2019) and Growing Up with I Spit on Your Grave (2019) are all given individual cases in the boxset instead of crammed into cardboard sleeves or separated by cheap plastic dividers inside a booklet like most major studios love to do. The exclusive box art is fantastic. Other goodies inside include two posters and a pair of refrigerator magnets. The posters are folded into fourths rather than shipped in a tube, which I typically do not like, but since the posters are reprints of the original film posters, that somehow made them feel more authentic and I was delighted by it. All in all, I was very satisfied. Ronin Flix wasn’t on my radar at all. I’m very glad they are now.

The Films

I had never seen I Spit on Your Grave (1978). I’d heard it mentioned dozens of times over the years in circles I circle but for whatever reason, I never caught it. It definitely earns its controversy. I can only assume this boxset is meant for already fans of the film. I don’t imagine a person would purchase, sight totally unseen. If you plan on doing that, however, please be warned. Most films with a gruesome, shocking and horrifying rape scene have a single gruesome, shocking, horrifying rape scene. This film has four. Be prepared for that. As far as the 4K transfer of the film completed by Ronin Flix, although I have nothing to compare it to, I genuinely admired the quality. Colors are sharp, audio is crisp and I fell head over heels in love with Camille Keaton. This is one of those horror movies, sort of like Last House on the Left (1972) and Funny Games (1997), that really isn’t a horror movie. It’s horrifying, to be sure, but anyone looking for a film fitting into the genre in the classic sense will be very disappointed. That’s not to say, I think it’s one of the best “horror” films I’ve ever seen.

The companion documentary Growing Up with I Spit on Your Grave (2019), produced by Terry Zarchi, son of the original film’s director, Meir Zarchi, articulately captures this complicated relationship the film had/has with the genre and industry. It’s packed full of fun and interesting facts. Notably, at least for me, a very famous (at the time unknown) movie star modeled for the film’s poster and one of the lead actors in the film was so disturbed by it and by his performance, he never acted again. Despite that, and what must have been a very draining shoot, especially psychologically, all of those involved seem to look back on it with the fondest of memories.

Lastly, I Spit on Your Grave was ultimately like every other cult horror film in the early aughts, it got a remake in 2010. In fact, it got a trilogy’s worth of remakes. I attempted to watch them after polishing off the boxset, got about halfway through the first one, and had to stop. Maybe someday. Not to be outdone, Meir Zarchi apparently always swore he would make a direct sequel to his cult film and he did in 2019 with I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu. To be perfectly candid, I have no idea how I feel about it yet. Camille Keaton returns. The basic story is the wife of one of the men she took revenge on in the original film now seeks revenge on her and her daughter. It’s two and a half hours long. It has no business being that long but watching it, a single thought kept repeating over and over again in my mind: “I think this is genius.” There’s a lot going on in this movie. I have to say I really enjoyed it.

Purchase the limited Collector’s Edition Boxset of I Spit on Your Grave here.

Read more from Nikk in the pages of the print Fall 2020 issue - pre-order it here. — *Read more from Nikk in the pages of the print Fall 2020 issue - pre-order it* *here*.