I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE 2 holds nothing back

RATED- UNRATED
RUN TIME- 105 MINS
WRITER(S)- NEIL ELMAN AND THOMAS FENTON
STARRING- JEMMA DALLENDER, JOE ABSOLOM, AND YAVOR BAHAROV
DIRECTOR- STEVEN R. MONROE



Synopsis taken from IMDb
Katie is trying to make it in the cutthroat world of modeling. When she innocently accepts an offer to have new photos taken for her portfolio, the experience quickly turns into an unthinkable nightmare of rape, torture, and kidnapping. When a twist of fate finally frees her from her captors- beaten, battered, bruised, and broken, she will have to tap into the darkest places of the human psyche to not only survive her ordeal, but to ultimately find the strength to exact her brutal revenge.

  

Being a big fan of the 2010 remake, I was definitely excited about this sequel, especially since it's by the same director. However, I also remained a bit skeptical. There's concerns that rose to my mind, like little red lights flashing. Sadly, I must say that I was right in being apprehensive about this one. The alarm going off in my conscience, those flashing red lights ended up being dead on the money, and I'll tell you why.

I've said this before, and I'll repeat it again for the sake of this films topic. There is no such thing as a good rape scene. I understand that sometimes in order to make a revenge flick, or a drama even, rape needs to be depicted. However, there is tactful ways of doing it. The film that I praise for having a tactful rape scene is Alex Aja's 2006 "The Hills Have Eyes" remake. It didn't show you much but, you were fully aware of what was going on.

The 2010 remake of "I Spit On Your Grave" also surprised me in the sense that although it was extreme, it wasn't overdone. The amount of maltreatment was done quite well. There wasn't too much thrusting or humping shown. It was more implied that she was molested by the gang of guys due to her passing out. I think that's the greatest thing about the retelling of the 1978 motion picture. The brutality was shown on such a tense level, that it wasn't necessary to exploit every little thing. It was immensely intense as well. And, the payoff was as much deserved as it was worth the wait.

This sequel does the exact opposite of what I praise the remake for. Before I go further, let me go on record as saying that I did like this movie. I just found it to be less tasteful than the prior installment, and not as thrilling. Unfortunately, the thing that I think lessened this one compared to the other, is the revenge. And that's a big problem.

This film centers around Katie (Jemma Dallender) and the gang of foreign creeps she encounters, from Bulgaria. When she refuses to go nude for the photo shoot, she soon realizes that she got mixed up with the wrong people. Things go from bad to worse, and then a little more worse. And right when you think the film has gone a bit too far, it goes a bit further. This to me, is like a half-sister to the remake. It's got similar traits, and is definitely part of the same family but, it's not as complete and whole.

After being beaten and raped repeatedly by multiple men, and being deceived by someone Katie thought she could trust, as well as the police, the payback just isn't what it needed to be for such a violent and gritty piece of cinema. The rape and torture goes a bit too far, to the point where it's almost un-watchable. They show a lot more than they should, unlike the remake. It's really not a necessity to show all that is shown, it's a bit much, and crosses a few lines, especially for a lackluster conclusion. Katie is beaten horribly, raped multiple times by different men, shocked, and pissed on. Oh, and buried alive! 

The revenge scenes were nasty and twisted, and deserving. They're not anything but shock factor though. It seems so fabricated and commercial, it doesn't feel as real or dreadful like it should. The final death is really hard to watch for men, at least I found it painful to view. Brings a new image to mind when hearing the term balls in a vice.

And, there's one other big thing that I did not like, and that is that they made Katie too much of a female icon almost, for lack of a better word. Once she decides to go over to the dark side, and get vengeance  for herself, she gets this black leather jacket, and she wears it through the remainder of the movie. I don't like that she has a cool, dark image about her. She should have a dirty tank top with sweat stains and grease and soot on it. She just doesn't look the part, and the wardrobe throws me off. It just lost the genuine revenge feel that the other film had, and you can see that this one has the brain of the remake but, not the heart or soul.

There's a scene where she exacts revenge on a big bull of a man. She knocks him out, and drags him through the train station tunnels where she's living, picks him up and puts him on a bed, all while wearing her little black jacket and without breaking a sweat. I'm not one for nitpicking, but damn. As I said above, this was just far too fabricated and insincere. 

Do I hate this film? No. Do I love it? No. Do I like it? Yes. 

I just can't fully back it because it's hard to watch something so gut-wrenching and have the pigs responsible for these despicable acts get punished in a watered down way. This film had no problem screwing with male genitalia but, what it needed to grow a bigger set of nuts for the sickness depicted and turn it up a notch. You can't have the antagonists do worse than the protagonist or the point is missed, and that's the case with this sequel.

Would I watch it again? Yeah. Would I buy it? Yeah. Will I watch it often? No. 

The remake is already hard enough to watch, and I like it a lot more than this one. "I Spit on your Grave 2" is Jack Ketchum's "The Girl Next Door", meets Eli Roth's "Hostel". I'm more disappointed than anything with this one. I wish they'd gone more original than predictable. Oh well. 

On a final note, the acting is good. But like the gore and torture aspect of this movie, it takes you out of the experience because it seems so expected and refurbished.