An attempt to trade on its predecessor's reputation without really grappling with the questions it raises, Monroe's version merely seems shallow, cynical and extremely ugly.
Pretty much across the board the characters are more interesting in the remake, but that's really only because they actually are characters to some degree, as opposed to the caricatures presented in the '78 version.
It's not that they don't deserve punishment, but the scale here is so out-of-whack with what we're shown, with one battered, tiny girl devising and executing tortures that would have required several construction crews and a team of black ops agents.
In addition to all the obvious things that are disgusting about this movie, I Spit on Your Grave is trying to get us to hate each other. Hate it instead. It makes more sense and the hatred is much more deserved.
This remake exists in that movie's shadow and, instead of attempting to outshock the original, ups the elaborate revenge aspect and gives you something to shamelessly cheer for.
By honing the jagged edges of Meir Zarchi's cheap and nasty rape-revenge shocker into slick entertainment, this unwelcome remake improves technically on the 1978 original, while retaining all that was sleazy and repellent...
