Elite Entertainment continues their impressive line of Millennium Edition DVDs with a brand spanking new DVD of one of the most notorious rape revenge films ever made. Of course I'm speaking of the often trashed and condemned I Spit on Your Grave. This time around the flick has been dressed up a little bit since its last DVD release with some new audio and video features and it also now includes some truly mouthwatering extras that should leave salivating fans quite content. while it's not as grand a special edition as their previous Millennium DVDs, the extras at hand are most impressive and enjoyable.

Camille Keaton stars as Jennifer Hills a young journalist who decides that some quiet time in the country just may be the ticket to a successful new novel. Once Jennifer arrives it doesn't take long for the local boys to take notice (she's quite fetching too don't you know). These four local boys take a shining to their new country guest (especially one young man who seems to be mildly retarded) as they keep a close eye on the young lady. If you could even use the word innocent in conjunction with this film, one could say that things start out innocent enough with some slight leering and a bit of teasing. Needless to say, one thing leads to another and things go just a bit to far. By a bit too far of course I mean these four men repeatedly torture, beat and rape poor Jennifer in a variety of locations and fashions. Ultimately Jennifer is thoughtlessly disgarded and left for dead. Jennifer, the strong woman that she is, recovers and sets out to exact her revenge on each of the unsuspecting dolts. Jennifer proceeds to seduce and destroy each of the four men and I don't think I need to tell you that through all of the madness, it ain't gonna be pretty here folks.

Quite often dividing audiences I Spit on Your Grave has split horror fans across the years more often than any other film in the genre. I Spit more often than not is dismissed as pure and utter garbage or useless exploitation created for the sole purpose to offend. Personally, I just couldn't disagree more. Jennifer is portrayed as an extremely strong character from the start of the film and is never seen as weak. She's a feminist writer for god sakes! For a film of this type, there's a lot of strong character development and the gratuitous sex / nudity is never comical, fun or even close to being sexy. Our four attackers are portrayed as monsters and we never relate to them on any level. We never see these men in a sympathetic light and when Jennifer begins her crusade we don't do anything but cheer her on. We want these men dead, just as much as Jennifer does. Gratuitous? Yes. However, the film never plays off as exploitation purely for exploitation's sake. The violence in this film (both sexual and otherwise) is shocking, sickening and disturbing. These are all valid emotions that are not easy to convey in a film, yet I Spit manages quite well. It may not be pleasing to look at, but the effect of the film is unquestionably strong. There aren't too many films like I Spit that have such a huge effect. It's gross, that's for sure, but it's also an extremely effective film.

I Spit on Your Grave is presented in an anamorphic widescreen transfer that is quite stunning to say the least. Compared to Elite's previous edition, this new DVD boasts some added clarity (thanks to the 16X9 treatment) and sharp bright colors. With only minimal amounts of print damage and trace amounts of grain this is a solid transfer and a slight (most may not even notice the difference) yet worthwhile improvement over the previous edition. Yes some colors remain a bit muted or washed out, but for the most part the image quality is extremely pleasing. What we now have here is the definitive video presentation of a fine cult classic.

Audio is presented in the original mono mix as well as in two spruced up tracks that include both a 5.1 or DTS digital option. Sound is pretty impressive all around with a major kudos to Elite for giving us the original mono track. Both digital remixes offer us a subtle expansion of the original mono track. These aren't slam bang knock your socks off surround tracks, but what they do is open up the mono track just enough to give us a bit of separation and an ultimately fuller and richer sound. If I had to choose I'd pick the DTS track as it's a bit cleaner and less muffled of the three, but all 3 tracks serve the film quite well, you now have your choice.

Extras include 4 trailers, 3 TV spots, 3 radio spots, an excellent artwork gallery and excerpts from articles and reviews as well as selected filmographies. The standout extra however is the dual commentary tracks, one with director/writer Meir Zarchi and the other with famed horror columnist Joe Bob Briggs. I don't think I need to tell you that the Joe Bob commentary is just flat out entertaining (and hilarious) and the Zarchi commentary is just a goldmine considering how rarely he's ever spoken about this film in public. Both tracks are definitely worth your time and make this disc an essential purchase all on their own.

Elite has done a bang up job in bringing I Spit on Your Grave to the new Millennium. As far as the extras go the quantity over other Millennium editions may be a bit sparse but the quality is definitely high up there. New extras, new audio tracks and 16X9 enhancement... this disc is an essential purchase for fans and newcomers alike.

For some comparison screenshots of the old and new release of I Spit on Your Grave, click here!