I found "Savage Vengeance" after sifting through several thousand DVDs at a nearby second-hand electronics store--with a cover baring the badly pixelated image of a chick with a chainsaw, and the title "I Will Dance on Your Grave," I imagined the millionth "Last House on the Left"/"I Spit on Your Grave" variation...and, at $1.99, picked it up without a second thought. I made it through about 40 minutes before my computer locked up, left with a pervasive sense of familiarity with the lead female (who gets raped at least 6 times during the film's 65 minutes)--dyed red hair, and the facial features of Camille Keaton, who played Jennifer Hills in Meir Zarchi's seminal feminist revenge film, "I Spit on Your Grave" (aka "Day of the Woman"). After perusing the IMDb comments, I was shocked to find out that this was no mere doppleganger, but the long-dormant actress herself. Part of me was happy just to see her in something after all this time, but felt sorry at the overall quality of the product. "Savage Vengeance" is a savage rip-off of "I Spit," though by comparison, actually puts Zarchi's film on a much higher plane (I've always had a respect for the film, even if the screenplay is severely flawed)--the writing, direction, acting, editing, lighting, and pacing were much better in that 1978 film than this 1993 shot-on-video effort. The blame for this zero-budget schlock-fest falls on writer-director-actor Donald Farmer's shoulders--apparently filmed on a VHS camcorder, the image has the quality of a second-generation bootleg, the musical score is terrible (and relentless, even when nothing is happening), and the performances are laughably amateur (even Keaton, who at least had something of a career prior to this, is stuck in a mis-directed role). Under the dubious distributor name 'Eden Entertainment,' I was at least thinking some soft-core porn would be thrown into the mix (what often sells low-budget stuff like this), but was sorely mistaken--while Keaton once again bares her chest to the world (one tasteless touch has her running around the woods with her shirt unbuttoned), the rapes themselves are implausible, fully-clothed acts carried out by guys who make the original "I Spit" gang look Oscar-worthy. But what can I say? At 65 minutes, "Savage Vengeance" kept my not-so-easy-to-keep interest, and made good use of authentic locations (even though the supporting cast of non-actors proves that even something like this needs at least a LITTLE professionalism)...and hell, it's a chance to see the rarely-seen Camille Keaton again!
