I Spit on Your Grave (1978) (Day of the Woman) - September 27th, 2010

[demoni]

Originally Posted by Zen_Amako

It's funny that they can pass Salo uncut, but not this. I guess they feel people are more likely to imitate this movie in real life?

Salo is made by a well known and respected director, and it's more of an "art film". I Spit on Your Grave is plain and simple exploitation. My guess is this is the reason for an uncut Salo, and a cut I Spit on Your Grave.

[Red Skies]

Originally Posted by demoni

Salo is made by a well known and respected director, and it's more of an "art film". I Spit on Your Grave is plain and simple exploitation. My guess is this is the reason for an uncut Salo, and a cut I Spit on Your Grave.

This is how I see it too

I think a lot of it is purely down to "tone"; plus I can't believe people can't see why "Irréversible" is uncut and not "I Spit on Your Grave". Are you serious?

[SymbioticFunction]

Originally Posted by Red Skies

...I can't believe people can't see why "Irréversible" is uncut and not "I Spit on Your Grave". Are you serious?

Quite serious. And they've removed a staggering 3 mins, way OTT.

Temple of Doom would now be uncut if Paramount had merely re-submitted the film for a higher age rating for the dvd boxset. 12 certificate material surely?

[demoni]

Again; you have to look at what kind of movies these are. Salo is an anti World War 2 and fascism movie that depicts the cruelty comitted by Italian fascist towards the end of the war.

I Spit On Your Grave is a movie about a girl being raped and raped... and raped. And then raped again! Then she cuts off some dicks and hacks people up with motorboats...

I don't say that i like the cuts being made to I Spit On Your Grave, but I can clearly see why they let Salo pass uncut, and I Spit On Your Grave not.

As for Temple of Doom... This was cut here in Norway as well. My guess is that the Indiana Jones movies will draw a lot of younger people. So to get a 12 rating they had to cut out the heart ripping scene (this was the one removed in Norway as well). The movie has been re-released uncut in Norway.

[SymbioticFunction]

Temple of Doom would be uncut in the UK if Paramount would merely present the original version to the BBFC. Annoyingly, they didn't bother doing so for the dvd release, hence it still being a PG rating. When the eventual bd set is released, it'll be an uncut version, and most likely a '12' certificate.

As for BBFC decisions, at least they finally chilled out about Last House On The Left...

[Red Skies]

Originally Posted by demoni

Again; you have to look at what kind of movies these are. Salo is an anti World War 2 and fascism movie that depicts the cruelty comitted by Italian fascist towards the end of the war.

I Spit On Your Grave is a movie about a girl being raped and raped... and raped. And then raped again! Then she cuts off some dicks and hacks people up with motorboats...

I don't say that i like the cuts being made to I Spit On Your Grave, but I can clearly see why they let Salo pass uncut, and I Spit On Your Grave not.

demoni, we agree again. What's going on?

From what I've read about the BBFC, and previous cut/banned work that know passes with no problem, they don't have an issue so much with the visual side but the context.

For the record, I don't have an issue at all with ISONYG, but playing devil's advocate I understand why it remains cut. The very nature of the film is exploitive and there is a question of when does a rape scene become sexual entertainment.

[demoni]

Originally Posted by Red Skies

demoni, we agree again. What's going on?

From what I've read about the BBFC, and previous cut/banned work that know passes with no problem, they don't have an issue so much with the visual side but the context.

For the record, I don't have an issue at all with ISONYG, but playing devil's advocate I understand why it remains cut. The very nature of the film is exploitive and there is a question of when does a rape scene become sexual entertainment.

Always nice when people agree.

And I see your point regarding the entertainment value of the rapes in I Spit On Your Grave. I look at the rapes in this movie in a WHOLE other way than the dark and vile rapes done in movies like Irreversible and Boy's Don't Cry.

I Spit On Your Grave is exploitation at it's finest, and the controversy will stay with this classic forever.

Wonder how far they dare take the re-make...

[Red Skies]

Originally Posted by demoni

I Spit On Your Grave is exploitation at it's finest, and the controversy will stay with this classic forever.

Controversy and boundary pushing is what made exploitation cinema one of the finest periods in cellular history....now what do you think the chances of ever seeing a UK release of "Fight for Your Life"?

[LordCrumb]

Originally Posted by demoni

Salo is made by a well known and respected director, and it's more of an "art film". I Spit on Your Grave is plain and simple exploitation. My guess is this is the reason for an uncut Salo, and a cut I Spit on Your Grave.

I both agree and disagree. While Salo is done by a more well known director, 'Temple of Doom' was done by Speilberg, but even that was cut (in the UK).

Its a shame if that is the reason ISOYG is cut, as each film should be rated on its own content, not the directors influence. They should also have the option of comparing films before deciding on the rating and possible censoring.

[Red Skies]

Originally Posted by KaiGusto

Its a shame if that is the reason ISOYG is cut, as each film should be rated on its own content...

Agreed. But I think what ISOYG suffers from is nothing to do with graphic content, lets be honest there are far worse films knocking around today, but "intent". The length of the rape scenes play out for far too long and there's a question of necessity.

[deadhatetheliving]

So is this title going to be region free or region A/B???

[SymbioticFunction]

Originally Posted by deadhatetheliving

So is this title going to be region free or region A/B???

Does it matter? It's been censored by almost 3 mins. Why 'upgrade' an uncut dvd to this?

[demoni]

Originally Posted by SymbioticFunction

Does it matter? It's been censored by almost 3 mins. Why 'upgrade' an uncut dvd to this?

+1 Who would want to buy a cut version of a movie? Wait for a US release.

[Red Skies]

Originally Posted by demoni

Wait for a US release.

Is the right answer.

Off topic slightly but talking of all things video nasties; anyone who thinks that the BBFC haven't progressed should check out the "Cult Labs" forum. Arrow Video announced yesterday that they've got "Island of Death (Ta Pedhia tou dhiavolou) " passed completely uncut. Quite an achievement as back in 2002 it was still cut by 4 minutes. Result.

[McCrutchy]

The BBFC has its hands tied by UK law in this case.

The Video Recordings Act of 1984 is the piece of legislation that forces the BBFC to force the distributors to cut their work. Since James Ferman left in 1999, the BBFC has come a long way from "censoring" films for certain audiences. And it is a rare event for an adult-oriented, non-pornographic film to be cut, unless the distributor is trying to achieve a certain lower classification for cinema screenings, in which case, an uncut video version with a higher classification is almost always made available.

Direct from the 13 July 2010 video classification for I Spit on Your Grave:

This work was cut. The cut(s) were Compulsory. To obtain this category cuts of 2m 54s were required.

Further information on cuts made (* SPOILER ALERT* Information may include plot details)

Company was required to make cuts to scenes of sexual violence in order to remove potentially harmful material. Cuts required in accordance with BBFC Guidelines, policy and the Video Recordings Act 1984.

If you really wish to be able to get a UK version of a film such as I Spit on Your Grave that is uncut, write your MP and tell them you want the VRA abolished or restructured.

[SymbioticFunction]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

The BBFC has its hands tied by UK law in this case.

Absolutely 100% not true. Like many BBFC decisions of the past, present and future...these things often show extremely conflicting elements that are not 'tied by UK law.' No good making reference to 'The Video Recordings Act of 1984' as 'the piece of legislation that forces the BBFC to force the distributors to cut their work.' That's an absolute nonsense, Texas Chainsaw Massacre finally being released (in any official form) in the late 90's just for starters, and how about Last House On The Left getting a fairly recent uncut UK version. No offence meant but it does feel slightly odd for UK residents to read a statement such as that, from an actual US citizen. It quite simply is not true. I also seem to recall somebody else stating that the original Dario Argento's Inferno cut was actually required by UK criminal 'law' shortly before the successful appeal and the BBFC finally deciding to release an uncut version.

[sapphire_nick]

Originally Posted by Antonvanbeek

I've posted my review of the I Spit on Your Grave Blu-ray on the HCC website. Trust me, the fact that's it's cut is not definitely the biggest problem with this release.

WOW! That is a shockingly bad BluRay picture. Incredible!

[LordCrumb]

Originally Posted by Antonvanbeek

I've posted my review of the I Spit on Your Grave Blu-ray on the HCC website. Trust me, the fact that's it's cut is not definitely the biggest problem with this release.

What? look at those pixels!? thats so bad!

[Red Skies]

Originally Posted by Antonvanbeek

I've posted my review of the I Spit on Your Grave Blu-ray on the HCC website. Trust me, the fact that's it's cut is not definitely the biggest problem with this release.

If those screen shots are accurate, this is a shocking presentation, even allowing for a movie of this ilk No excuses.

By the way, I pretty much agree with your review and you hit the nail firmly on the head ("a bore", "over-the-top") to the reason why this movie will always struggle to get passed without cuts.

[jacobb1313]

Originally Posted by Antonvanbeek

I've posted my review of the I Spit on Your Grave Blu-ray on the HCC website. Trust me, the fact that's it's cut is not definitely the biggest problem with this release.

Yikes. So much for importing this one.