Savage Vengeance

Savage Vengeance is a 1993 American slasher-rape and revenge film written and directed by Donald Farmer. It is a failed sequel to the controversial 1978 film I Spit on Your Grave. It stars Camille Keaton, under the alias "Vickie Kehl", represing her role of Jennifer Hills.^[1] No scenes from the first film were used, and instead new footage was used for flashbacks scenes, ostensibly because of legal rights issues.

Plot

A woman named Jennifer Hills is driving. When she gets out of her car she takes her book and takes a walk in the woods. She gets tired, so she stops and goes by the river. She takes a rest and starts to read. A group of four men stalk her. They then rape her and leave her for dead. Five years later a woman is in a bar and meets a strange man named Tommy who talks to her. She tells him to piss off. When the singer starts to sing the woman leaves. She sees Tommy, who slits her throat and stabs her.

Meanwhile, Jennifer is now in law school. Her teacher makes fun of her and he says to the class after two weeks Jennifer recovered and killed them. She shot one in the head, she hacked up the other two and stabbed the last one. She was never charged. Jennifer then feels sad so she leaves the class. She meets her friend Sam. Jennifer tells Sam for them to get out of town, so she does. The two start the car and go. They discuss Jennifer's life and what happened. When they stop for gas Sam meets Tommy. Tommy starts to flirt with her but she slaps him. A man named Dwayne saves her and they decide to flirt. Sam tells him where she and Jennifer are staying at. When Jen and Sam get there Sam is shocked to see the place so horrid and ugly. She decides to go out for air. After a little bit Sam is lost. She sees a cottage which is Tommy's. When she goes in she sees Dwayne. They kiss passionately but then Dwayne rapes her on the couch and on the bed. Tommy stabs her, killing her in the process.

The next day Jennifer is worried so she decides to look for her. When she goes back to the gas station Dwayne and Tommy tell her where she is. They take her to the cabin where she sees Sam dead. Jennifer escapes from the house and runs out. Tommy catches her but she hits him multi times with a branch knocking him out. When she stops to rest Dwayne sneaks up on her and rapes her. Tommy finds them and stabs Jennifer leaving her for dead. After a little bit Jennifer gets up and wants revenge. She runs out the woods and sees a car. She goes in the car and drives away.

A little while later at the gas station the sheriff enters. He talks to the two boys and tells them that Jennifer and Sam haven't been seen and they moved into the cottage. The men claim they know nothing about them. The sheriff warns them and tells them not to go near since they found a dead body in the room but they were never charged. After this Dwayne goes to the bar and gets drunk. When he gets out he takes a walk in the woods and then hears something. He sees Jennifer with a chainsaw and runs. She chases him but he trips. She chainsaws his head in half killing him.

Meanwhile, Tommy is treating the dead body of a girl and Sam's body as if they were alive. Jennifer goes in front of the house with a shotgun, yelling at Tommy to leave. Tommy escapes from the house and runs away but Jennifer yells at him to stop. He does and she shoots him in the testicles. He begs her to come and help him. The film ends with Jennifer walking away smiling and leaving Tommy to die like they did to her.

Cast

• Camille Keaton as Jennifer. Keaton is credited as "Vicki Kehl", and her character's last name (Hills) was removed due to legal purposes.
• James Cochran as Rapist
• Bill Gatson as Rapist
• George Maranville as Rapist
• Mike Smith as Rapist
• Jamie Peak as Girl in Bar
• Donald Farmer as Tommy
• Melissa Moore as Singer
• Robin Sinclair as Law Professor
• Jill Harris as Student
• Tom Gibson as Student
• Tanya Simpson as Student
• Linda Lyer as Sam
• Phil Newman as Dwayne Chesney
• Bill Sweeney as Manny
• Brenda Gilbert as Customer
• Jane Clark as Clerk
• Jack Clout as Sheriff
• Bill Wilson as Deputy
• Jack Kent as Bulldog
• Shelia Allison as Waitress
• Sherry Mosherry as Dead Girl

Production

The film was supposedly shot in 1988, but not released until 1993. The film was shot on video with an extremely low budget.

The film's star, Camille Keaton, refuses to speak of the film or its production. Her reasons for this haven't been made clear, but it has been rumored that she left the set before the end of the production, hence the film's abrupt end. Her only reference to appearing in the film came at a horror convention in 2005, when asked by a fan to explain her involvement in the movie, she replied: "I'm sorry, I can't speak about that."

The film was shot as a presumably sequel to I Spit on Your Grave without legal rights and this led to legal trouble for five years. Director of I Spit on Your Grave Meir Zarchi allegedly sued Farmer, and the result was that the character of Jennifer's last name was removed from the film (when another character said her last name, it was dubbed over or removed).

The film was altered taking out any references to the original film, re-edited and then finally released in 1993 as Savage Vengeance. Director Donald Farmer still denies these claims.

During an audio interview for DVD Monthly in 2005, Zarchi spoke about the film and Camille Keaton's involvement. He told of Keaton calling him in tears, explaining she had walked off set and apologized to him for getting involved with the film. He recalled Keaton calling him from "somewhere in the mid-west", giving an idea of where the movie was shot.^[2]

The audio interview with Zarchi is included as a special feature on the 2005 Millennium Edition DVD of I Spit on Your Grave.^[3] Zarchi maintains he has never seen the film.

Although the film was marketed in some territories as the sequel to I Spit on Your Grave, it is thought that this was the initial idea and not only came about to capitalize on Keaton's involvement in the production.^[4]

Release

A region-free DVD was released on October 31, 2000.^[5] Alternative titles include I Spit on Your Grave 2: Savage Vengeance, I Will Dance on Your Grave: Savage Vengeance and Return to the Grave.

In 2013 a special edition DVD was released by Massacre Video, including a rare interview with actress Camille Keaton.

References

External links

• Savage Vengeance at the Internet Movie Database
• Savage Vengeance at Rotten Tomatoes (Wayback Machine)