I Spit on Your Grave
Writer Jennifer Hills rents an isolated country house to work on a novel, but her stay turns into a brutal ordeal. After surviving an attack, she methodically turns the tables on those responsible. The film became one of the most debated examples of the rape-revenge cycle and a key UK censorship case.
Film details
| Original / alt title | Day of the Woman (original title); I Spit on Your Grave |
| Year | 1978 |
| Director | Meir Zarchi |
| Country | USA |
| Runtime | Approx. 98 min |
| Main cast | Camille Keaton, Eron Tabor, Richard Pace |
UK status
One of the 39 titles successfully prosecuted during the UK video-nasty era.
Passed 18 in 2001 after substantial cuts to sexual-violence material; modern UK versions remain cut.
Why it caused controversy
UK censorship / Video Nasties history
A quick status check first, followed by the film’s censorship timeline. A DPP prosecution was an obscenity case against a particular video publication — it was not automatically the same thing as a permanent nationwide “ban”.
Detailed censorship timeline & facts
FACTS & TRIVIA
- Originally released under the title Day of the Woman.
- Camille Keaton plays Jennifer Hills, the central role.
- Its reputation in Britain was shaped as much by the prosecutions as by its original release.
- The BBFC has published a case study discussing its classification history.
- Unlike many former nasties, this title still has compulsory UK cuts in modern submissions.
- It later inspired remakes and sequels.
- Debate around the film often centres on whether it condemns or exploits the violence it depicts.
Distributor / VHS label
Archive cover shown is the user-supplied scan. UK distributor / VHS-label attribution varies by edition and is not asserted here without a verified sleeve imprint.
Trailer
Open a search for the original theatrical / VHS-era trailer. This keeps the archive linking to publicly available trailer sources rather than hosting copyrighted film footage.
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