This updated version of the notorious 1978 ‘rape and revenge’ shocker is the rare example of a horror remake that more than holds its own, adding an unanticipated touch of moral complexity into the mix. Director Steven R. Monroe’s film certainly doesn’t skimp on the harrowing brutality of the original – if anything certain sequences suggest that he seems determined to push the envelope further. The story remains the same: city-girl writer Jennifer (Sarah Butler) lands at a secluded lakeside cabin to work on her new novel, only to be repeatedly brutalised by a gang of rednecks. The victim turns tables on her tormentors, however, wreaking a merciless and bloody retribution. By turns deeply harrowing and shockingly exploitative, I Spit… can be read as a morally ambiguous examination of audience attitudes to sex and violence, or a brutally effective exploitation flick with artful leanings. Either way, it’s a film explicitly designed to provoke, which it does in a brutally effective fashion.