Nerds That Geek Movie Review: 'I Spit on Your Grave (2010)'

​Written by Scott Edwards

Writers can be a strange breed of people, I can say that because I know several of them. While they may be a little bit eccentric, there is a method to their madness and while others think things that they do are strange, it works for them. While some of them visit the locations that they are writing about, some will stop and talk to people about their lives and draw off of that, but there are others that just need to be alone for a few days to clear their minds and get their creative juices flowing. There is no right or wrong way when it comes to the writing process, as long as the story is told, it is always a success. 

Needing to get away and start her next novel, writer Jennifer Hills has found the perfect out of the way place to stay. Being alone in a cabin next to the lake seems to have revitalized her mind and she is in love with the area and may never want to leave. But all is not as it seems when a few men from town come knocking and want to exploit the woman for all that she is worth. Breaking into the cabin, Johnny, Stanley, Andy and Matthew are ready to have some fun with the city girl, but when she is able to escape their torment, Jennifer is able to find the Sheriff and explain what is going on. Thinking that she will be safe now, Sheriff Storch shows her that nothing is as it seems. As all of the boys are able to have their way with her, Jennifer finds enough strength to make her last walk to the river once the horror has come to an end. Jumping in before Storch is able to kill her, the boys are put on body detail for the next few days so that nobody will be asking questions.

A month has passed and the group of boys are back to living their everyday lives, but when young Matthew sees the face of Jennifer in the woods, he knows that something strange is going on. The Sheriff has thought very little about the event, since she is surely dead, but when he gets a call from his buddy Earl saying that one of Jennifer’s friends is looking for her, he has to put it back into his mind. While the boys are sure that the young woman is dead, they all get targeted in one way or another and when Johnny is tormented by someone outside of his trailer, he believes that Matthew is messing around with him. Talking to Andy about the problem, the two start looking for their friend, but when Stanley shows up in a panic to let them know that he has lost the tape from that fateful day, Johnny knows that they have to find Matthew before things escalate. 

While talking with his wife at home, the Sheriff is surprised to see that there is a new tape on the table that appears to be the one he ordered destroyed. Talking to the boys again, they all agree that Matthew is behind it since he had feelings for the city girl. Searching the woods for their friend still yields no results as Matthew has been taken by Jennifer who has had a month to work her plan out to perfection. Hunting down the men that took her life away from her, she has devised a special punishment for each of them and Matthew is the first one. When stumbling upon an old vacant house, Stanley and Andy find that Jennifer is still alive and are punished for their actions against her. With only two men left, Jennifer has saved the best for last and will make sure that they understand how their torment has changed her life.

It has been years since I have seen the original I Spit on Your Grave, but I stumbled across this one in a bargain bin, so I decided to give it watch. Damn, is all I can say as if the opening part of the story is not disturbing enough, the revenge is that much gorier. I would say that I feel bad for all of the men being killed off, but after what they did, they deserved much worse. I really liked seeing how the bright eyed Jennifer has transformed into a woman that will stop at nothing to get what she deserves, and while I don’t believe in holding grudges, what she did was fantastic. Good growth on her end, while the boys just sit back and live their lives like nothing has ever happened. I did enjoy this remake and it gave birth to two more films that I will probably enjoy checking out. The biggest takeaway I have from this movie is to never piss off a writer, since they have the mind to create something much worse than you can ever imagine. Stay Scared.

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