I saw the original "I Spit On Your Grave" when it was released in 1978, and it was one of the 70's grindhouse classics that stayed with me... incredibly sleazy but undeniably entertaining, gross, and yes, even shocking. When I read that the current "Deja Vu" release had cast Camille Keaton, who was the heroine in the original, I was immediately intrigued. I read two external reviews of the film on IMDB before I watched it, and both lauded the film, calling it "strong stuff," and "not for those with weak stomachs." Those reviewers clearly saw a very different film than I did. Clocking in at 148 minutes, this bloated, monotonous albatross was actually painful to watch.
I'm at a loss as to how anyone could have given thumbs up to the film the way it was written, shot and released. Did Meir Zarchi think that by casting Ms. Keaton - who adds nothing to the film and at times is embarrassing to watch - he was going to make this sequel the equivalent of "Gone With the Wind?" His screenplay couldn't have been less than 400 pages long. Every single scene in this film is AT LEAST 2-3 times longer than it should be... the extraneous, redundant, astoundingly monotonous dialogue just goes on and on, until it finally grinds the pace of the film to a complete halt. For a b-film, the actors are believable in their performances, but they just never, ever shut up. Even the ending becomes maddening... the director continues to add more and more small, absurd plot elements to incessantly draw it out. How long did it take to shoot this? With the incessant monologues and additions to the plot it must have been an endless production schedule.
ISOYG-DV doesn't even come remotely close to the creativity or sleaziness of the original... this should have been way over-the-top, as the original was the grandfather of revenge flicks. Instead, it's slow, dull and flat. Even the few special effects are totally unconvincing, and the plot remains disappointingly tame.
This could have passed as a mediocre exploitation film if they whittled it down to about an hour and fifteen minutes, which would have considerably picked up the film's tempo and relieved a lot of the boredom. As it is now, it's an interminable, frustrating mess.
I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu
2019
Action / Horror / Thriller
Plot summary
Jennifer Hills is back. 40 years after 1978's I Spit On Your Grave shocked the world with its story of a beautiful career woman assaulted and left for dead, and her notorious revenge on those responsible, cinema's most lethal Lady Vengeance returns in the most anticipated sequel of all time. Reuniting star Camille Keaton and original director Meir Zarchi, I Spit On Your Grave: Déjà Vu sends now-successful writer Jennifer Hills hurtling back to where it all began to face the wrath of the families of those she murdered. After she's kidnapped along with her daughter, scream queen Jamie Bernadette, it's a tense game of hunt-or-be-hunted against a lethal gang of degenerates overseen by violently-unhinged matriarch Maria Olsen. Meir Zarchi delivers the next explosive saga in the most controversial tale of an eye-for-an-eye ever committed to celluloid. Some grudges refuse to be buried--David Maguire.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
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Seriously?
My cousin was like a brother to me.
The film opens with the original rape scene snippet from the 1978 film so you don't get confused as to which spat upon grave this is a sequel to. Jennifer Hills (Camille Keaton) was acquitted of murder and has written a book about the incident. The families of those she killed are less than pleased. Jennifer has a daughter Christie (Jamie Bernadette) who is the world's top model in spite of being able to pinch more than an inch and needing her nose fixed.
Jennifer is abducted and Christie is also taken because she was there. Do I need I explain what happens next?
The film was overly predictable although I didn't see that first decapitation coming. The dialogue was really bad and the scenes were overextended. The acting was everyone behaving like a stupid Goober.
Guide: F-word, rape, nudity (Camille Keaton from the original film, Jamie Bernadette-thank you, and Maria Olsen- might want to close your eyes or risk blindness)
Two and a half hours of mind-numbing garbage.
It's been four decades since gang rape victim Jennifer Hills (Camille Keaton) was somehow acquitted of cutting, chopping, breaking and burning five men beyond recognition. Now the author of a best-selling account of her ordeal, titled 'I Spit On Their Graves', Jennifer has understandably incurred the wrath of her victims' relatives. Kidnapped along with her super-model daughter Christy (Jamie Bernadette, looking every inch unlike a world famous fashion icon),Jennifer once again faces a terrifying ordeal...
This belated sequel to notorious 1978 shocker I Spit On Your Grave fails to replicate the original's success (understatement of the year?),despite the return of director Meir Zarchi and star Keaton. Given that he's had forty years to plan this movie, Zarchi's script is incredibly poor, and his cast is absolutely dreadful, but the worst thing about Deja Vu is its runtime of almost two and a half hours, every scene outstaying its welcome, making the film a gruelling experience for all the wrong reasons.
Do yourself a favour and skip this dreadful film; watch the remake and its sequels instead - they're far more brutal, the acting is way better, and they won't have you checking how much time is left every few minutes.