Day of the Woman (1978)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Meir Zarchi

Writer:

Meir Zarchi (writer)

Release Date:

3 November 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The ultimate day of terror!

Plot:

An aspiring writer is repeatedly gang-raped, humiliated, and left for dead by four men whom she systematically hunts down to seek revenge.

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Rape | Female Killer | Blood | Female Frontal Nudity

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Camille Keaton	...	Jennifer Hills
Eron Tabor	...	Johnny
Richard Pace	...	Matthew Lucas
Anthony Nichols	...	Stanley
Gunter Kleemann	...	Andy
Alexis Magnotti	...	Attendant's Wife
Tammy Zarchi	...	The Children
Terry Zarchi	...	The Children
Traci Ferrante	...	Waitress
William Tasgal	...	Porter (as Bill Tasgal)
Isaac Agami	...	Butcher (as Isac Agami)
Ronit Haviv	...	Supermarket Girl

Directed by
Meir Zarchi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Meir Zarchi		writer

Produced by
Meir Zarchi	....	producer
Joseph Zbeda	....	producer

Cinematography by
Nouri Haviv		(as Yuri Haviv)

Film Editing by
Spiro Carras		(re-edited international version)
Meir Zarchi

Makeup Department
Armine Minassian	....	makeup artist
Joan Puma	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Michael Penland	....	post-production supervisor
David Schanker	....	post-production supervisor
William Tasgal	....	production manager (as Bill Tasgal)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Penland	....	first assistant director
Beriau Picard	....	second assistant director

Sound Department
Michel Carton	....	sound mixer
Alex Pfau	....	sound effects editor
Steven Sklar	....	location sound recordist

Special Effects by
Beriau Picard	....	special effects
William Tasgal	....	special effects (as Bill Tasgal)

Camera and Electrical Department
John De Ruyter	....	grip
Andre Givolinsky	....	grip
Josh Karan	....	gaffer
George Liebert	....	grip
Louis McMahon	....	camera operator
Steve Miller	....	gaffer

Editorial Department
Jim Ettorre	....	assistant editor
Sol Fischler	....	assistant editor
Ray Karticki	....	assistant editor
Pamela Yates	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Lou Kleinman	....	production coordinator
William Kruzykowski	....	production coordinator
Alexis Magnotti	....	continuity
Alex Pfau	....	creative consultant

Production Companies

• Cinemagic Pictures

Distributors

• Cinemagic (1978) (USA) (theatrical)
• Jerry Gross Organization, The (1980) (USA) (theatrical) (retitled re-release)
• Wizard Video (1981) (USA) (VHS)
• Astra Video (1982) (UK) (VHS)
• Astra Video (1982) (UK) (video) (Betamax)
• Video Star (1984) (Belgium) (VHS)
• Wizard Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Elite Entertainment (1998) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• CMV Laservision (2000) (Germany) (DVD)
• Astro Distribution (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Elite Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Force Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Atlantic Film (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Future Film (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Screen Entertainment (????) (UK) (theatrical)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Koch Vision (????) (USA) (DVD)
• VidAmerica (????) (USA) (VHS)
• VidAmerica (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production
• J.G. Films  negative matching
• Magno Sound  mixing studios
• Montage Film Services  post-production services

Also Known As:

I Hate Your Guts
The Rape and Revenge of Jennifer Hill (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

100 min | Argentina:95 min | UK:93 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R (edited for re-rating) | USA:Unrated (uncut video version) | USA:X (original rating) | Finland:(Banned) (cut) (1980) | Finland:K-18 (2006) | Australia:(Banned) (1997-2004) | Australia:R (original rating) (cut) | Australia:R (2004) (uncut) | Italy:VM18 | China:(Banned) | Thailand:(Banned) | Philippines:(Banned) | Singapore:(Banned) | Malaysia:(Banned) | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Norway:15 (uncut) (2006) | New Zealand:(Banned) (original rating) | Sweden:15 (uncut) (2006) | France:-16 | South Korea:18 (DVD rating: 2002) (uncut) | Italy:T (DVD) (special edition) | Argentina:18 | Canada:(Banned) (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:(Banned) (Ontario) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) (video rating) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (1998) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | Iceland:(Banned) | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 (re-rating) (2004) | Norway:(Banned) (video version) (1982) | South Korea:18 (heavily cut) | West Germany:(Banned) | UK:(Banned) (1984-2001) | UK:18 (heavily cut) | Ireland:(Banned) (2002) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Connecticut, USA

Company:

Cinemagic Pictures

Trivia:

When this film was first released in 1978, the original title was "Day of the Woman" and was poorly received at the box office. In 1981 distributor Jerry Gross renamed it "I Spit on Your Grave"--after a 1959 French drama--for re-release. Under the new title the film received greater publicity and became a key target of Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel's campaign against films featuring women in danger.

Goofs:

Continuity: The position of the bag of groceries that Matthew is to deliver to Jennifer changes positions on the meat counter in the market before Matthew picks it up.

Quotes:

[last lines]
Jennifer Hills: Suck it, bitch!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Alabama Jones and the Busty Crusade (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Sola Perduta Abandonnato

Not the piece of trash that it's reputation suggests it to be

I Spit on Your Grave is a film that will never be accepted as a serious piece of film-making. This is thanks in part to the gratuitous rape and murder scenes, which don't exactly hold back the shocks; and it's also due to the time in which it was made. These days, as proved by the likes of 'Irreversible', films tackling rape in a shocking and disgusting way are more readily accepted, and even gain a strong reaction from many critics. This film was unfortunately (albeit for good reason) caught up in the 'video nasty debate' in the early eighties, and as such it's reputation has been diminished to such an extent that the likes of Roger Ebert have labelled it 'the worst film ever made' (even though The Blair Witch Project is the worst film ever made) and it's reaction in general tends to be of the bad variety. For some reason, we have found ourselves in a world where it's more than acceptable to give praise to 'A class' rape themed dramas such as Irreversible, but woe betide thee who labels this as a good film. Well, woe betides me then.

For a 'video nasty', I Spit on Your Grave has surprisingly good production values. While the acting often lets it down, the cinematography and even the script are more than decent and this helps the film in it's bid to get the praise it deserves. The story, which follows a New York writer who moves to a backwater part of the USA to work on her new novel, shortly before being horribly raped and beaten, is just a plot device for the more important elements of the plot. The main theme on display seems to be a comment on the male sexual ego and the way that women can have power over them. The film plays out like a revenge thriller, with the protagonist getting her own back on the men who raped her. This disrupts the main argument against this film; namely, that it's misogynistic, as much of the violence in the movie is actually directed against men. Of course, the rape scenes are the main crux of the film; but most of the gore comes later. Don't get me wrong, this is hardly an uplifting feminist drama; but it's not the worst film ever made either. Content caution though; it gets a bit extreme. A certain scene in a bathroom takes the prize for being one of the sickest sequences ever to grace the silver screen.