Day of the Woman (1978)

Director:

Meir Zarchi

Writer:

Meir Zarchi (writer)

Release Date:

3 November 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The ultimate day of terror!

Plot:

An aspiring writer is repeatedly gang-raped, humiliated, and left for dead by four men whom she systematically hunts down to seek revenge.

Plot Keywords:

Revenge | Rape | Bruise | Degradation | Scream

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Camille Keaton	...	Jennifer Hills
Eron Tabor	...	Johnny
Richard Pace	...	Matthew Lucas
Anthony Nichols	...	Stanley
Gunter Kleemann	...	Andy
Alexis Magnotti	...	Attendant's Wife
Tammy Zarchi	...	The Children
Terry Zarchi	...	The Children
Traci Ferrante	...	Waitress
William Tasgal	...	Porter (as Bill Tasgal)
Isaac Agami	...	Butcher (as Isac Agami)
Ronit Haviv	...	Supermarket Girl

Directed by
Meir Zarchi

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Meir Zarchi		writer

Produced by
Meir Zarchi	....	producer
Joseph Zbeda	....	producer

Cinematography by
Nouri Haviv		(as Yuri Haviv)

Film Editing by
Spiro Carras		(re-edited international version)
Meir Zarchi

Makeup Department
Armine Minassian	....	makeup artist
Joan Puma	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Michael Penland	....	post-production supervisor
David Schanker	....	post-production supervisor
William Tasgal	....	production manager (as Bill Tasgal)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Penland	....	first assistant director
Beriau Picard	....	second assistant director

Sound Department
Michel Carton	....	sound mixer
Alex Pfau	....	sound effects editor
Steven Sklar	....	location sound recordist

Special Effects by
Beriau Picard	....	special effects
William Tasgal	....	special effects (as Bill Tasgal)

Camera and Electrical Department
John De Ruyter	....	grip
Andre Givolinsky	....	grip
Josh Karan	....	gaffer
George Liebert	....	grip
Louis McMahon	....	camera operator
Steve Miller	....	gaffer

Editorial Department
Jim Ettorre	....	assistant editor
Sol Fischler	....	assistant editor
Ray Karticki	....	assistant editor
Pamela Yates	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Lou Kleinman	....	production coordinator
William Kruzykowski	....	production coordinator
Alexis Magnotti	....	continuity
Alex Pfau	....	creative consultant

Production Companies

• Cinemagic Pictures

Distributors

• Cinemagic (1978) (USA) (theatrical)
• Jerry Gross Organization, The (1980) (USA) (theatrical) (retitled re-release)
• Wizard Video (1981) (USA) (VHS)
• Astra Video (1982) (UK) (VHS)
• Astra Video (1982) (UK) (video) (Betamax)
• Video Star (1984) (Belgium) (VHS)
• Wizard Video (1985) (USA) (VHS)
• Elite Entertainment (1998) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• CMV Laservision (2000) (Germany) (DVD)
• Astro Distribution (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Elite Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Force Entertainment (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Atlantic Film (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Future Film (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Screen Entertainment (????) (UK) (theatrical)
• Image Entertainment (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Koch Vision (????) (USA) (DVD)
• VidAmerica (????) (USA) (VHS)
• VidAmerica (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound post-production
• J.G. Films  negative matching
• Magno Sound  mixing studios
• Montage Film Services  post-production services

Also Known As:

I Hate Your Guts
I Spit on Your Grave (USA) (reissue title)
The Rape and Revenge of Jennifer Hill (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

100 min | Argentina:95 min | UK:93 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R (edited for re-rating) | USA:Unrated (uncut video version) | USA:X (original rating) | Finland:(Banned) (cut) (1980) | Finland:K-18 (2006) | Australia:(Banned) (1997-2004) | Australia:R (2004) (uncut) | Australia:R (original rating) (cut) | Italy:VM18 | Philippines:(Banned) | Singapore:(Banned) | Thailand:(Banned) | Malaysia:(Banned) | China:(Banned) | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Norway:15 (uncut) (2006) | New Zealand:(Banned) (original rating) | Sweden:15 (uncut) (2006) | France:-16 | South Korea:18 (DVD rating: 2002) (uncut) | Italy:T (DVD) (special edition) | Argentina:18 | Canada:(Banned) (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Canada:(Banned) (Ontario) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) (video rating) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (1998) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | Iceland:(Banned) | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R18 (re-rating) (2004) | Norway:(Banned) (video version) (1982) | South Korea:18 (heavily cut) | West Germany:(Banned) | UK:(Banned) (1984-2001) | UK:18 (heavily cut) | Ireland:(Banned) (2002) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Connecticut, USA

Company:

Cinemagic Pictures

Trivia:

The film has no music score. Director Meir Zarchi intended to add some library music to his film, but found none that was suitable, so the only music we hear in the film comes from the church organ, a snatch of Giacomo Puccini on record, background music in the store and a few stray riffs from Johnny's harmonica.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Matthew takes his turn raping the woman, there are no lenses in his glasses. There are lenses in them throughout the rest of the film.

Quotes:

Johnny: It won't stop bleeding!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fear in the Dark (1991) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Sola Perduta Abandonnato

Brutal

I tried to watch this film once before and made it up to the second rape scene before leaving the room, believing I was seriously about to throw up. I finally forced myself to watch it all the way through recently, and I'm glad I did.

Jennifer Hill is a young, hip, free-spirited woman of the 70s, who leaves her home in New York City for a long vacation in Connecticut, where she plans to write her first novel. Jennifer soon attracts the attention of four lowlife scumbags as she sunbathes in her bikini. The semi-evolved thugs kidnap Jennifer, drag her into the woods, rape her, beat her, sodomize her, beat her some more, follow her home, rape her again, kick her when she's down, make fun of her manuscript, rip it to shreds, rape her with a bottle, beat her up one last time and leave her, bleeding and unconscious on the floor of her vacation home. Damn. They send the retarded Matthew back into the house with a knife and instructions to kill her, but Matthew can't bring himself to do it. He tells the guys that he has killed her, and they stupidly believe him and leave. But Jennifer is alive, and as she heals from her hideous wounds and recovers her strength, she plots revenge against her rapists.

Roger Ebert called this the worst film ever made and feminists damned it to hell for all eternity, but you know what? I'm a woman and I liked it. Jennifer is no weak, whimpering, helpless little victim. She tries her best to fight back. When threats and violence fail to work in her favor, she uses the only other weapon she has: sex. The men are all stereotypical slobs, disgusting pigs who are clearly already emasculated and use Jennifer as an outlet for their frustration and rage. The rapes have nothing to do with sex and are portrayed most realistically - they are ugly, brutal, violent, nasty and completely devoid of eroticism. The sodomy scene was the one scene that horrified me the most, as Jennifer emits the most bloodcurdling scream of pain ever heard. It is very difficult not to flinch from that sound. Jennifer's revenge is every bit as bloody and painful, and nowhere is it more sadistic than in the infamous "bloodbath" scene. These guys all get what's coming to them, and Jennifer makes sure that the punishment fits the crime, turning the men into the helpless, pleading victims and feeding their own sadism right back to them.

Okay, so not all of the plot points make sense, and not everyone is going to agree with Jennifer's decision to kill the men, but it's still a powerful film. It's told primarily from Jennifer's point of view but it never takes sides. It simply tells the story and lets you decide - is Jennifer an insane psycho-killer who ought to go to jail for her crimes, or is she an angel of vengeance delivering poetic justice?

Scaredy cats like me might prefer to watch this film with the audio commentary by Joe Bob Briggs turned on. Joe Bob provides a lot of interesting information about the making of this film, and also supplies some much needed comic relief throughout.