Monday, December 23, 2019

I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu


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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

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