Savage Vengeance

Savage Vengeance is 1993 slasher film, that served as an "unofficial" sequel to the controversial 1978 movie I Spit On Your Grave with Camille Keaton under the alias "Vickie Kehl" reprising her role as vengeful rape victim, Jennifer Hills. No scenes from first movie are used. New scenes are used instead for any flashbacks. Director Donald Farmer co-stars as Tommy, one of Jennifer's tormentors.

Plot
A woman named Jennifer goes to a park where she is raped and left for dead by four men. Five years later, a creepy man named Tommy tries pick up a woman at a bar, only to be rejected. Tommy kills the woman in retribution.

Jennifer, now in law-school, is exposed by her professor when he reveals to the class her past: after two weeks of recovery, she got revenge and brutally killed her rapists. Jennifer was never charged for the crime and claimed she did not kill in self-defense, but in retribution. Angry, she decides to skip her final exam and take a little vacation with her friend, Sam, to a secluded cottage.

Jennifer and Sam stop at a gas station where Sam is harassed by Tommy, who is a town local, only for him to be brushed off by clerk Dwayne Chesney. Dwayne then playfully flirts with Sam. When Jen and Sam arrive at their cabin, Sam is disgusted by the place and takes a walk. When night falls, she gets lost but quickly finds a cottage. She is surprised to find out Dwayne owns the place. Dwayne attacks and rapes her before Tommy, who is revealed to be Dwayne's friend, shows up and stabs her to death. Worried, Jennifer searches for Sam and finds Dwayne where he claims to know where Sam is. Jennifer is then brought back to Dwayne's cottage where she finds Sam's body. Jennifer then attempts to escape, only to be raped in the woods, stabbed and left for dead. Jennifer survives, hitchhikes and plans her revenge.

A little while later at the gas station, the sheriff questions Dwayne and Tommy about the missing women, but they deny everything. Dwayne is then told by a friend at a bar that a woman matching Jennifer's description, recently bought weapons and has been asking about him around town.

Jennifer finds Dwayne, chases him through the woods and when he gives up, Jennifer slices his face with a chainsaw and then goes off to find Tommy. Mentally disturbed Tommy is still at Dwayne's Cottage treating Sam's and another woman's dead bodies as if they were still alive where he is interrupted by Jennifer. Tommy tries to run off but Jennifer threatens him with a rifle. Tommy then tries to convince Jennifer not to kill him. Jennifer then shoots Tommy in the testicles and walks off leaving Tommy for dead like Dwayne and Tommy did to her.

Cast

 * Camille Keaton (credited as 'Vickie Kehl') as Jennifer
 * Donald Farmer as Tommy
 * Linda Lyer as Sam
 * Phil Newman as Dwayne Chesney
 * Jack Clout as Sheriff
 * Robin Sinclair as Dr. Luna
 * Jane Clark as Clerk
 * Bill Sweeney as Manny
 * Jack Kent as Bulldog
 * Melissa Moore as Bar singer
 * Bill Wilson as Deputy
 * Shelia Allison as Waitress
 * Sherry Mosherry as Dead girl
 * Nikki Riggins

Production
The film was supposedly shot in 1988, but not released until 1993, which would explain the somewhat dated look to the film and sound of its score. Not much is known about how the film came about, but it is well known that the production was a troubled affair. The film was shot on video and its lack of budget is apparent. Details such as filming locations and exact production dates have remained unknown. The film's star, Camille Keaton, refuses to speak of the film or its production to this day. 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. This perhaps explains why she is credited under a different name in the movie. 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."

Rumors indicate that the film was shot as a sequel to I Spit On Your Grave without legal rights and this lead to legal trouble for five years. The film was altered taking out any references to the original film, re-edited and then finally released quietly in 1993 as "Savage Vengeance". Director Donald Farmer still denies these claims but some people speculate he is legally unable to talk about it.

During an audio interview for DVD monthly in 2005, Meir Zarchi, director of I Spit On Your Grave, spoke about the film and 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.&#91;2&#93;

The audio interview with Zarchi is included as a special feature on the 2005 Millennium Edition DVD of I Spit On Your Grave.&#91;3&#93;

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 commonly thought that this was the initial idea and not only came about to capitalize on Keaton's involvement in the production.&#91;4&#93;

Release
The movie currently has a low rating of 1.4/10 on IMDB.com.&#91;5&#93;

The DVD region free was released on October 31, 2000.&#91;6&#93; 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 January 1, 2009, Horror fan-editor Retro Horror Remix released a fan edit of the film under I Spit on Your Grave 2 on Demonoid. This fan edit was a re-creation of the original cut. Original footage from "I Spit On Your Grave" was re-edited into the picture, filler scenes had been removed and the film beard the original title. Retro Horror Remix went back and added those references back in, restoring the original sequel while also removing several over-the-top filler "bad" parts. This was a re-creation of the long-lost sequel the way it was meant to be seen.

Goofs
In the supposed "flashback" that recalls Jennifer's past assault, neither Jennifer or any of her attackers remove any clothes during the attack; the same "goof" can also be spotted in the later assault scenes.

In any scene the name Jennifer is mentioned, it is clumsily dubbed, leading to speculation that the character was in fact named Jennifer Hills, but was cut down to Jennifer to try and not market the film as the sequel to I Spit On Your Grave after legal trouble.

During one scene towards the end of the film, Jennifer's supposedly dead friend moves her eyes and head several times.

The chainsaw Jennifer uses towards the end of the film clearly hasn't got moving chain and is clearly not switched on, yet there is sound effects dubbed in to indicate otherwise.

A boom mic is visible in many scenes throughout the film.