Product: Day of the Woman (1978)
Rating: 3.0
As Sexy as Roadkill
A pretty young writer from NYC takes a vacation in a remote rural area with the intention of writing a novel. Her avocational activities are interrupted by a small group of bored hicks who viciously gang rape her. This doesn't sit too well with our heroine; revenge ensues.Meir Zarchi's infamous exploitation movie has aged pretty well, still possessing enough gory surprises to shock all but the most hardened viewers. The first half of the film is predictable enough, and it moves at a leisurely pace, even during the notorious extended rape sequence. While Zarchi possesses a talent for developing tension, quite a lot of the film's first hour consists of filler. However, the film's second half is quite the opposite; in its most violent scenes, this movie generates an ambiance of atavistic vengeance that's very, very rare in any contemporary medium, especially the motion picture. While this film is comparable to its peers (Death Wish, Ms. 45), Zarchi's take on the subject of revenge is more primal, deliberate and satisfying than most others.The quality of this feature's production values are mixed. While Zarchi is a director of slight invention, his editing is clumsy, sometimes embarrassingly so. The cinematography is a cut above that of most B-movies, but the sound is awful; much of the dubbed dialogue sounds as though it were recorded in a bathroom.The performances of the supporting cast range from mediocre to uncomfortably bad. But in the lead, Camille Keaton isn't just gorgeous eye candy; she plays her role with a conviction that's alternately compelling and disturbing. Keaton conveys the trauma and menace of her character with such impassive realism that the audacity of the plot doesn't seem as absurd as it is.After a failed theatrical run, Day of the Woman was re-released a few years later with the more famous title of I Spit on Your Grave to greater success and widespread attention. Much of the movie's publicity was generated by Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, whose moronic campaign against it only produced greater profits for Zarchi and his financiers. I Spit on Your Grave was also banned in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, West Germany, Ireland, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, China and Thailand, and heavily cut for theatrical showings in many other countries. Considering that the film's promotional materials focus on the story's element of revenge and the protagonist's femininity, the popular misconception of it as a glorification of violence against women seems baffling.