In reading the reviews, I think it best to dispense with the plot summation. I feel compelled to comment due to how, time and time again, those driven to comment on this lurid, artless film keep missing a huge, glaring point- this film, when it gets down to it, is really more soft-core fetish porn than a film about righteous revenge. 'Day of the Woman' has got to be the cheapest, most cruelly hypocritical tagline ever.
The cover art on the video ought to be the first tip off- a woman, scantily clad in something torn and tight-fitting, scratched up and filthy, clutching a machete in her grubby, ravaged hand. But this woman has no face, not even a head, nor is there any man, her presumed rapist who's about to get it, present. The focal point in the picture is her mostly bare back, perky buns and taught thighs, not the woman herself, nor her experience, but her physical, sexual image. How now is that not extreme objectification, when the ravaged body, free from any personality, any human face, is blatantly eroticized- when THIS is the film's visual selling point? This is the absolute farthest thing from empowerment I can think of.
In the ensuing- and flimsy- story that follows- precious little time is spent on character development. All we are allowed to know about Jenny is that she is a New York writer who enjoys the great outdoors. Right away we get treated to a full-frontal and fully gratuitous nude scene, and it isn't very long afterward that the gang rape actually occurs. The rape itself is grueling, graphic, and painfully, unnecessarily long- it is this scene, not the killings, that are the climax of the film, indeed almost the whole point. After Jenny, left to die, manages to get it together, recuperate, and exact her revenge upon the scum that did this to her, it's all pretty dull from there on, actually. There is no effort on the director's part to build up any suspense, and the killings themselves are far less graphic and gory than the rapes, less detailed, and surprisingly occupy much less screen time than you expect. Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but Jenny delivers death with no relish, no triumph, no hesitation, or anguish- not one tenth of the emotional energy present during her violent gang-rapes, not even buy the guys getting whacked. Jenny could be knitting a sweater, for all the emotional expression in either her face or voice. Really, these were some of the most boring slayings I've ever seen in a horror film.
In the end, it's all about the rape, and you find yourself left with the feeling that this film is actually geared toward men who secretly find the visual image of rape kind of hot, and eases the guilt by letting the lady have her revenge, so they can pretend that's actually what they came for. It was what I, for one, came for, and was sorely disappointed. I can't think of one redeeming thing to say about this poorly acted, visually unappealing, lurid piece of celluloid. In fact, that probably IS the nicest thing I could have said about it.
The cover art on the video ought to be the first tip off- a woman, scantily clad in something torn and tight-fitting, scratched up and filthy, clutching a machete in her grubby, ravaged hand. But this woman has no face, not even a head, nor is there any man, her presumed rapist who's about to get it, present. The focal point in the picture is her mostly bare back, perky buns and taught thighs, not the woman herself, nor her experience, but her physical, sexual image. How now is that not extreme objectification, when the ravaged body, free from any personality, any human face, is blatantly eroticized- when THIS is the film's visual selling point? This is the absolute farthest thing from empowerment I can think of.
In the ensuing- and flimsy- story that follows- precious little time is spent on character development. All we are allowed to know about Jenny is that she is a New York writer who enjoys the great outdoors. Right away we get treated to a full-frontal and fully gratuitous nude scene, and it isn't very long afterward that the gang rape actually occurs. The rape itself is grueling, graphic, and painfully, unnecessarily long- it is this scene, not the killings, that are the climax of the film, indeed almost the whole point. After Jenny, left to die, manages to get it together, recuperate, and exact her revenge upon the scum that did this to her, it's all pretty dull from there on, actually. There is no effort on the director's part to build up any suspense, and the killings themselves are far less graphic and gory than the rapes, less detailed, and surprisingly occupy much less screen time than you expect. Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but Jenny delivers death with no relish, no triumph, no hesitation, or anguish- not one tenth of the emotional energy present during her violent gang-rapes, not even buy the guys getting whacked. Jenny could be knitting a sweater, for all the emotional expression in either her face or voice. Really, these were some of the most boring slayings I've ever seen in a horror film.
In the end, it's all about the rape, and you find yourself left with the feeling that this film is actually geared toward men who secretly find the visual image of rape kind of hot, and eases the guilt by letting the lady have her revenge, so they can pretend that's actually what they came for. It was what I, for one, came for, and was sorely disappointed. I can't think of one redeeming thing to say about this poorly acted, visually unappealing, lurid piece of celluloid. In fact, that probably IS the nicest thing I could have said about it.