Growing Up with I Spit on Your Grave

Director - Terry Zarchi (Jungle Money, Holy Hollywood)

Starring - Camille Keaton (I Spit on Your Grave, Death House), Meir Zarchi, and Gunter Kleemann (I Spit on Your Grave)

Release Date - 2019

Genre - Horror

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I've watched and reviewed numerous documentaries over the years.  Some were about horror in general while others were about specific films.  Sadly, most of these films did not need a documentary about their production and the impact they had on the genre.  If any movie deserved it's own documentary it's 1978's I Spit on Your Grave.  This is one of the most controversial films in the genre's history and the inspiration for the film is just as shocking as the film itself.  Last year the son of I Spit on Your Grave's took the task of making a documentary about this iconic film which is included in the Ronin Flix's box set with the original film.  

      The documentary follows the inspiration for the film, the ups and downs of filming the film, the fallout of being apart of the film, the marriage of director Meir Zarchi with actress Camille Keaton and subsequent divorce, distribution woes, and critics response before moving into how the film would go on to gain a cult following.

     A documentary like Growing Up with I Spit on Your Grave should have been made sometime ago which is very surprising considering how many other films with less significance has recieved documentaries made about them.  This film really does take viewers back in time with some great information on the film and a lot of insight on what it was like to film the movie and what inspired it.  The interviews are extremely informative.  The film does an amazing job at getting so many people involved with the film together to be interviewed.  The viewer is showered with so many stories from the making of.  It was also eye opening to see just how the film was received when it was released.  The movie was released almost a decade before I was born so this was all news to me.  I took so much away from this film.  With that being said, I really would have loved to see some of those that viewed the film as pro-rape be interviewed just to hear their side of it even though they are misinformed and opinionated.  The topics discussed in the film goes in chronological order starting from the sexual assault victim that director Meir Zarchi and his family found while visiting the park one day before moving on to writing the film, getting it produced, filming, release, distribution, marriage and divorce, and then the legacy of the film.  This film was perfectly laid out and easy to watch.  Finally, the editing and transitioning between each interview and topic is very smooth.  However, there is several instances where some very generic graphics are used that reminded me a lot of those old news specials from the 90s.  Nothing to bring the film down but they are funny enough.  Overall, Growing Up with I Spit on Your Grave is a great companion piece to one of the most controversial films in movie history.  There is so much information held in this that the viewer will come away with it with a hole new appreciate for the classic.  It may be a little biased coming from the son of director Meir Zarchi but it's well worth your time.  Check it out.