Released: October 2015
Director: R.D. Braunstein
Not Rated
Run Time: 91 Minutes
Distributor: Anchor Bay Films
Cast:
Sarah Butler: Angela/Jennifer Hills
Jennifer Landon: Marla
Doug McKeon: Oscar
Gabriel Hogan: Detective McDylan
There are certain horror franchises that were/are destined to become franchises. Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Saw among others. Why do these become franchises? Oddly enough, it’s the villains. Elm Street had Freddy Krueger, Friday had Jason Voorhees, and Saw had Jigsaw. These are the kinds of movies that are mostly entertaining and fun to watch. So, how does a movie like I Spit On Your Grave get to be a franchise? Damned if I know. The original film’s premise of a woman getting violent revenge after being brutally raped, beaten and left for dead, doesn’t strike me as a concept you can stretch for multiple films. I guess it starts when you remake a movie. I Spit on Your Grave got a remake back in 2011, starring Sarah Butler in the role of Jennifer Hills. I don’t necessarily have a problem with remakes as long as they are done well, and the remake of I Spit on Your Grave was pretty good. It was brutal, merciless and very much satisfying by the time the film was over. The sequel to the remake was essentially a carbon-copy with a different victim, but same concept. Again, it was brutal, vicious and had some pretty satisfying kills. Now, we have I Spit on Your Grave 3: Vengeance is Mine. What do I make of it? Let’s find out.
After several years pass since being brutally violated by a group of rednecks, Jennifer Hills has taken the new name of Angela, and has moved to a new city with a new job. Haunted by nightmares of her experience down south, Angela starts attending a group for rape victims. Initially being standoffish with the group, she meets a fellow rape victim, Marla, who is extremely cynical about the group, and the two quickly become friends. When Marla and Angela hear the story of a young girl has been sexually abused by her stepfather, they decide to pay him a visit and scare him. Afterwards, they agree to meet for coffee later, and when Marla doesn’t show, she’s informed by the group that Marla was raped and murdered by her ex-boyfriend. After hearing this, Angela makes the decision to take justice into her own hands. I Spit on Your Grave 3 is a direct sequel to the 2011 film, ignoring the events of the second film entirely. So, the story has a natural progression dealing with Jennifer trying to move on with her life after her ordeal. It’s clear that the poor woman is psychologically damaged. We see the effects of that damage through her fantasies about killing people who piss her off. We also see flashbacks of her brutal experience. As a result of that particular psychosis, the film has a much different feel than the previous entries.
On the one hand, not seeing the rape and murder of Marla is a kind of a blessing, because we don’t really want to sit through that, again. On the other hand, one of the reasons why the previous films were so brutally effective is BECAUSE we witness the entire assault. That allows us to connect and empathize with the victim, and hope that she gets revenge. Because we don’t get to see what happened to Marla, that connection is no longer there. The movie ends up becoming a bit of a slasher-flick of sorts. As a result, I Spit on Your Grave 3, is a lot more tame than the previous films. That doesn’t make it a bad movie, far from it. While Jennifer is the main character here, she’s not the victim. She is an avenging angel of sorts. She’s meting out justice on behalf of some of the other rape victims. In the original 1978 film, the character of Jennifer Hills lured her victims in by using her body and sexuality. In essence, she used herself as both bait and weapon. This particular element was missing from the remake, so it’s nice to see that happen here, as Angela dresses provocatively to entice her victims.
Sarah Butler reprises her role from the remake, so she’s the main star. She is simply fantastic. She’s gone from victim to pissed off femme fatale, convincingly. While I Spit on Your Grave 3 isn’t perfect, the performances are top-notch. Because of the character’s deteriorating mental state, Sarah brings the anger and the hatred that’s required of the character. It’s convincing, mostly because the ugly reality is that a lot of these rapists really do get off lightly a lot of the time, so it’s actually really easy to get into her mind and understand her frustration with the system. I love that, it makes for a more compelling experience. The kills themselves are pretty brutal, especially Jennifer’s first non-fantasy kill of the picture. Let’s just say that this kill is below the belt….literally. While the following kills are harsh, they aren’t really super gory, as the previous films have done.
Personally, I rather like the film as it features some pretty fantastic performances. If you’re going into this movie expecting an extremely brutal experience on the same level as the first I Spit on Your Grave, you’re not going to get. It’s a different kind of movie, and while I’m not particularly angry about it, it does fail to live up to the standard of the original movie. It also does take some time to get going, but when it does, it doesn’t stop. Overall, this is a pretty harmless entry into the series, and I’m strangely okay with it. Some people might be expecting something really harrowing, and they’re going to disappointed and rightly so. The I Spit on Your Grave 3 isn’t perfect, but it is a pretty solid thriller. So….yeah. Four I Spit on Your Grave movies. How the hell did that happen? This one gets an 8.5/10.