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In case you haven’t seen the intro from my entry dated
1/26/19 (it’s in my archives whenever you want to read it), I’m no longer going
to review every single movie I see. I’m
going to review one, with the occasional bonus, and just give ratings for the
rest from now on (unless I decide to pick it up again in the future). You can always ask me why I gave the ratings
for the films without reviews though (via comments or the e-mail addresses
under the ‘About Me’ section).
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I Spit on Your
Grave: Déjà Vu OK
This is a direct sequel to the original I Spit on Your Grave and has no connection to the remake or its two
sequels (you can read my reviews for the original film, the remake, and both sequels
in one of my other blogs at---https://vampireclown82-2.blogspot.com/2017/09/i-spit-on-my-blog.html). The director of the 1978 controversial cult
classic, Meir Zarchi, also directed this sequel, so I expected it to be a
little better than it was. For those
that haven’t seen the original I Spit on
Your Grave, basically a female writer temporarily leaves the city for the
countryside, is brutally raped/assaulted by four local men, and gets revenge on
all four after being left for dead. Said
female writer, played by Camille Keaton in both films, wrote a book about her
ordeal and now has a grown daughter. I’m
assuming since there’s a 40-year gap between the movies that the same amount of
time passed in the movie world, but I’m unsure because none of the characters
look old enough to be returning ones and one of the characters has a cell
phone. One character, claiming to be the
father of one of the victims in the first film, wouldn’t have looked old enough
to be the father if he was in the
first film. Camille certainly aged (it’s
been 40 years after all), but still doesn’t look bad for her age, and I don’t
think her daughter in the film is at least 40 (unless she also looks good for
her age). I guess I can overlook those
questionable timeline/continuity issues (somewhat) and judge the movie on its
primary merits…I guess. Keep in mind
that this is a 148-minute movie, which I thought was a typo initially, but it
actually didn’t seem like it despite not needing to be that long. And as much as I dislike both remakes and
sequels (for the most part), I think I prefer sequels and like how this was one
despite the four decade difference. Anyway,
relatives of the aforementioned victims from the first film abduct Camille’s
character and her daughter because now they want revenge. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying
something happens to both of them and the daughter then goes after the
attackers one by one. If this was about
an hour shorter, it could’ve very well been a remake as it sure felt like one
when she was seeking vengeance like her mother did in the first film (hence the
Déjà Vu in the title). One scene even tries to replicate the bathtub
castration in a different location (not much for subtlety). It’s pretty much the same movie, only longer,
not as disturbing (the scene in Irreversible
is the only time I’ve seen something come close to rivaling the brutal
depictions of the first film), and tonally different (generally). The rednecks may also be vile here, albeit not
necessarily as creepy as the original group, going back to my ‘tonally different’
comment, just more irritating (almost making this sequel feel like a joke at
times). There is still violence for
those wondering and those expecting it, and I feel I’m being a bit too lenient
with my rating, but I rated it so for fans of the first that’ll likely just be curious
(or have OCD like me in regards to watching movies), even though it may be an
unnecessary sequel that’s not as gritty (or disturbingly compelling) as its
predecessor and likely a “watch once and never again” film. 12/17/2019
Other
movies and TV show(s) I’ve seen and their ratings (see above):
Holiday Rush >>>EH/OK
(Netflix)
Light of My Life >>>OK/G
Lucky Day >>>EH
Ronny Chieng: Asian Comedian Destroys America!
>>>OK/G
(Netflix)
Three Days of
Christmas: Season One >>>OK
(Netflix;
In Spanish with subtitles)
---Sean O.
12/23/2019
