Solid revenge flick

Chamber005

Chamber005

Carbonite Member
So I saw the old school I Spit on Your Grave when I was a kid. It was okay as a morbid rape flick, but other than that it didn't have much redeeming value.

Usually I don't like the remakes of 70s classics, but this one was actually watchable. Been awhile since I watched a revenge flick and thought, "You go, girl. You get that revenge. Good for you."

Good stuff. Recommenz.
 
I am totally the opposite. The original will always be the better one to me because it's not a morbid rape flick....the director was inspired to make it after rescuing someone who had been raped.
 
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If you want to watch a great revenge flick, check out Dead Man's Shoes. Haven't seen the new "I Spit" but might pop it on the VOD tonight. I love a good revenge flick.
 
JustinBrown said:
I am totally the opposite. The original will always be the better one to me because it's not a morrbid rape flick....the director was inspired to make it after rescuing someone who had been raped.
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I'm confused by the statement "after rescuing someone who had been raped". So not rescued from being raped but rescued from something post-rape?
 
ADD: I was mulling it over last night as to what makes a really solid revenge flick, and I think the component missing in most Hollywood films is the avenger always being in control, never in danger of having the tables turned on them throughout their revenge plot. In most revenge flicks of man vs man (opposed to man vs alien or monster), at some point during the revenge a typical Hollywood script needs the avenger to have the tables turned on them by their antagonist mid-revenge. Obviously the main objective is to have the audience worry for the main character, but I think it goes to a deeper psychology that says revenge for the sake of revenge is bad (thus making the good guy into the bad guy).

So what works as a solid revenge flick? IMO the acts of the villains have to be so intolerably cruel and overwhelming so that no matter how much of an upper hand the avenger has throughout the rest of the film post-trauma, the audience can still root for them.

Count of Monte Cristo, Sweeney Todd, Hamlet, Conan the Barbarian, Hostel, Last House on the Left (the original anyway), Unforgiven; some people felt that Inglourious Basterds missed the mark, but I think it was only hindered because the audience had to infer what the Nazi characters had done instead of showing some truly horrific stuff on screen.

They used to get revenge flicks right in the 80s and early 90s, but either people got tired of them or people's minds began to reject the "An eye for an eye" philosophy and instead wanted their heroes to show remorse to their enemies (a notion that was usually taken advantage of which led to the hero killing the enemy anyway).

I'll always be a fan of movies where you wind up rooting for the bad guys because there are worst guys out there. Unfortunately at some point in the film (post-inciting incident), the worst guys are usually going to gain the upper hand which IMO turns your solid revenge flick into a mundane hero-overcoming-obstacle-survival flick which has no place in the revenge genre.

Die Hard was a great film (good guy overcoming bad guy obstacles), but The Punisher should have been equally great in its genre (good guy turns to bad guy and kills worse guys). But it's a careful balance and I think most films miss the mark on what we really need from a true revenge flick.

Never once in I Spit On Your Grave does the hero not have the upperhand in her revenge. She could have killed herself in the final scene and it still would have been a solid revenge flick -- and that's saying something; that's true, untainted revenge, where it's the only thing you're living for.
 
Oldboy's a solid revenge flick I'd say, and the protagonist has the tables turn on him a few times.
It's kinda like there's two revenge stories going on, only we(audience) find out about the second one half way(or more like 75%) though the film.
 
The remake was an interesting watch. When it came to the revenge section I was quite amped up. I wanted her to do whatever she felt like doing. However, once it was revealed that she had planned those very silly Saw-style revenge traps, all of that work during the first half faded away. Very diasappointing. It raised a smile or two but by the credtis I felt cheated.
 
Chamber005 said:
I'm confused by the statement "after rescuing someone who had been raped". So not rescued from being raped but rescued from something post-rape?
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He and his wife found a woman who had just been beaten and raped lying by the side of the road, or so the story goes...then he wrote the film.
 
Chamber005 said:
ADD: I was mulling it over last night as to what makes a really solid revenge flick, and I think the component missing in most Hollywood films is the avenger always being in control, never in danger of having the tables turned on them throughout their revenge plot....snip....Never once in I Spit On Your Grave does the hero not have the upperhand in her revenge. She could have killed herself in the final scene and it still would have been a solid revenge flick -- and that's saying something; that's true, untainted revenge, where it's the only thing you're living for.
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So what you are saying is that the hero/heroine should not have any obstacles to overcome? None? Is it me or does that sound like a pretty boring story? Establish motivation for revenge...Get revenge unhindered....End
 
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