If you’re looking for a film title that seems custom designed to upset just the kind of people who like to go around calling for movie censorship, then you can’t go wrong with I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE, surely one of the great horror movie titles.
When the video nasty furore exploded in the UK, I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE was right there at the centre of it, the film banned and held up as a reason for rising crime, dog attacks* and children being lippy with their parents. While the rape and vengeance plot doesn’t leave much room for gentle moments of contemplation, the film might have slipped under the radar had it not been for the moral majority baiting title and the luridly sexual cover art which makes bold claims about burnt and mutilated victims.
It’s well known that video cover art was responsible for much of the fuss around violent videos in the early 80s and I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE has one of the most famous images in video history.
It’s interesting to me to see these old ‘classics’ of exploitation brought back and cleaned up for a new generation. Mostly, I’m fascinated by the shifting moral compass of society. No one is saying that I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE is mainstream, pre-watershed entertainment and, while the censors have a few concerns about certain scenes, the film isn’t being taken to court by a system that almost proud to be philistine about art and cinema.
People still worry about video violence and it’s an ongoing debate that rages on forums across the interest and I’m sure the views expressed about this will be radically different on Mumsnet as opposed to Horror Express or Dread Central and that’s great. Freedom of speech online should be sacrosanct. What’s refreshing is that a film like I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE is no longer a moral panic. No one is going to look at you funny for liking an extreme horror movie anymore (although the media has been trotting out the video nasty phrase again in relation to recent horrific events in the UK…) because we all know there are more important things to worry about.
I think that’s the real difference between then and now. These days, what you choose to watch is much more your own affair. I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE is an effective, shocking and pacy thrill ride, it’s not for the easily upset, but for horror fans it’s an effective slice of revenge terror and fans of such movies are free, thanks to generally loosening censorship and the net, to watch what they choose.
*A British MP once claimed that violent videos could upset pets.
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