Early Review "I Spit On Your Grave 2"

[klownz]

I am posting this review on behalf of Shaza123, her original review and conversation on the film can be found here: I Spit On Your Grave 2 (2013)







I found myself in a very fortunate position of being able to view this beauty before release. Now I am a massive fan of revenge themed horror movies. I admired the original I Spit, and adored the remake, so I was more than a little excited for the sequel. High hopes are almost always a bad sign. They can often ruin the movie experience. This was not the case today. Holy Mother of God!!!

As a continual nod to the original and the predecessor, we open with the side profile of our protagonist, where the title feature appears, I Spit On Your Grave 2. Katie is our protagonist. She is not an author like our previous victim, she is an aspiring would-be model. But she needs some professional shots of her to sell her portfolio, and decides to contact some cheap photographers.

Upon ringing them, a thick, Russian sounding accent greets her, and promptly asks her to text him a photo of her before agreeing to meet. This unusual and personal request throws her, especially since he also seems to know her name. She hesitantly does and receives a positive response. Soon after, Katie enters this cheap photography shop, and by cheap I mean CHEAP. There's even a guy sleeping on some boxes to the side. Most people would take one look at this dodgy place and bolt. As Katie looks around, unsure of herself, she is greeted by Georgy, another Russian sounding bloke, who appears friendly, maybe even too friendly, to her. The photographer, Ivan, is the one who spoke to her on the phone, and promptly tells her to get dressed. She does and poses while he snaps her, and for a few mins seems to be quite relaxed. That is until Ivan tell her to lose the dress completely. Katie decides enough is enough and leaves as quickly as she can.

Well, being that this is a sequel to I Spit, we know things will get bad. And boy do they. Katie hears a knock on her door and finds Georgy standing right outside with the photos to give her from the shoot. Perhaps more than a little freaked out that this man knew where she lived, she closes the door as quickly as she can, and bolts it. Unfortunately, that doesn't stop Georgy from getting into her apartment and watching her while she sleeps. When she wakes up and sees him, things escalate VERY quickly. In a brutal and horrific rape scene that can be compared to the one in Irreversible, we see that this movie really wants to stand out from the remake and the original. And I gotta admit it does a damn fine job. This movie is intense on every level, and the pain has only just began.

As a rape and revenge movie, this movie delivers in spades. With at least two graphic rape scenes, as well as horrible abuse and torture, the first half is not easy viewing in the slightest. You'll feel sick and disturbed, but that's a good thing. The more we see Katie suffer, the more intense her revenge will be. And yes, her vengeance is cruel in every sense. It takes things up a notch and will have you both sick to your stomach (I almost threw up, no joke), and cringing in your seat. While I won't spoil anything here, what I will say is castration, is actually NOT the worst thing you can do to a man. I do believe Katie found something even more cringeworthy, more cruel and painful. Good luck watching this scene, fellas, you'll need it.
Yes, the revenge scenes totally made the first half worth it. I do enjoy the creativity that went behind them. It'll get a nice conversation going, about what could be the worst thing you could do to another human being. Stay tuned to see what Katie has in store. I guarantee some jaws dropping.

As for everything else, this movie is pretty mediocre. Apart from being a rape and revenge film, it really has nothing to do with the first one. The acting isn't anything special and there are so many plot devices that really don't make sense. But being the movie it is, that's perfectly okay. The original I Spit was a grindhouse movie, which promised rape and revenge. Likewise the remake and sequel have followed lead. This is a rape and revenge film, and that is exactly what you get. If you want pain, gore and gruesome revenge, you have come to the right place. If you thought I Spit 1 was extreme, trust me, you haven't seen anything yet. See this movie! And enjoy.

8/10

I cannot wait to see this in the cinemas.

I Spit on Your Grave 2 (2013)

Thankyou for reading.

[Rik]

I too am a fan of both the original & remake os ISOYG, so I'm looking forward to checking this out when it's released, more so after reading this!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Sounds like it will be cut over here.

[klownz]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Sounds like it will be cut over here.

That wouldn't surprise me as it does sound pretty full on, I guess it will depend on how graphic the rape actually is.

[Rik]

I believe it's playing at Frightfest this weekend, so I guess we'll find out if it'll be cut next week

[Wes]

I'll put on my grumpy old man hat and say I'll never see this one or the 2010 film - after Irreversible, I totally lost whatever taste I had for these type of films...

[Boo Radley]

Damn! wasn't too bothered about this till now!
Now I really wanna see it!!

[Susan Foreman]

DVD and Blu-Ray release on October 7th:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Spit-Your-Gr...n+your+grave+2 - DVD

I Spit On Your Grave 2 [Blu-ray]: Amazon.co.uk: Jemma Dallender, Joe Absolom, Aleksandar Aleksiev, Yavor Baharov, Mary Stockley, Michael Dixon, Peter Silverleaf, Valentine Pelka, Georgi Zlatarev: Film & TV - Blu-Ray

[Boo Radley]

Just looking at blu ray releases of this. The Australian is stated as 104 mins and the US is 106 mins. Is this just NTSC to PAL speedup or is the Aussie disc cut???
Anyone know??
To confuse me more the German edition states 101 mins? The UK, 100 mins Help!!!

[Buboven]

I saw this at Frightfest and actually liked it better the the first one (which is still one of the better remakes). I thought the cinematography was better than the first film. I particularly the idea of the 'underground' locations. The actress playing the central female character did a quite a good job aswell. And, yes as the above review said, it has very graphic rape and revenge scenes. The last revenge she minced out had me and every other guy in the audience squirming in their seats.
But you know what, like The Seasoning House from last year doesn't deserve the criticism it got for its rape scenes and violence (which. unknown to some it seems, was not filmed in an exploitative manner but rather to highlight the appalling and very real sexual abuse of women in conflict zones) I think all these scenes do is show rape for the vile act it is and makes the revenge/torture scenes understandable. This is something you don't find, in say Hostel, where the gory torture is just there for pure shock purposes and to make the audience go eww.

The other difference between these and such films as Eli Roth's Hostel films, the later SAW sequels, Uwe Boll's Seed and Hidden In The Woods (from Frightfest 2012) etc is that they contain characters that are played well enough that I actually care about them when they get hurt.

In regards to it being cut. I believe that the version shown at frightfest was a special 'festival cut' which wont appear on the UK's DVD/BluRay release.