I Spit on Your Grave movie review (2010)

I Spit on Your Grave (2010)

Brief review: Director Steven R. Monroe, best known for making mediocre TV movies and low-budget crappy horror flicks ("It Waits" anyone?) brings this surprisingly well-crafted remake of the 1978 "cult classic" of the same name. While the disgustingly gruesome original was trashily-made, this 2010 version completely delivers in terms of execution. Not only "I Spit on Your Grave" is smoothly-paced and almost flawlessly-shot, but it's also quite striking, visually. A very important element in the movie is the choice of location, as the rich forest scenery of Louisiana is downright stunning, and beautifully-captured by Monroe's camera. The magnificent pale color palette used in the film's artful cinematography also adds to the quality of the visuals. Sarah Butler gives a confident and extremely convincing performance as the abused young writer, who seeks revenge and both Jeff Branson and Andrew Howard give truly disturbing performances. The unrated version includes a never-before-seen footage, that contains some seriously disturbing goriness, and even more grotesque images. Violence-wise, "I Spit on Your Grave" is absolutely uncompromising, and full of creative torture sequences that leave nothing to imagination.

Overall summary: Thanks to its precise direction, arresting visuals and sheer bone-chilling brutality, "I Spit on Your Grave" is, surprisingly, the second horror remake released in 2010, along with "Let Me In", that easily surpasses the original in terms of quality and execution.