One Of The Most Controversial Horror Movies Of All Time Features Demi Moore On Its Poster
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Meir Zarchi's 1978 revenge flick "I Spit on Your Grave" is one of the more notorious banned horror movies of its era. The film follows an author named Jennifer Hills (Camille Keaton) as she goes on a writer's retreat at her remote cabin in Connecticut, only for a quintet of creeps to begin stalking her with the direct intent of seizing her and sexually assaulting her. Sadly, their horrid crime is realized early in the film, and Jennifer is brutally abused. One of the men is then ordered by the others to kill Jennifer, but he doesn't want to take her life. The still-living Jennifer comes to and, shortly after, starts plotting a scheme to get revenge on the men who wronged her. Naturally, her revenge plays out in the most extreme, R-rated fashion possible.
"I Spit on Your Grave" was censored all over the world for its explicit sexual violence. It vacillated between an R and an X rating, depending on a few seconds of particularly disturbing footage. The film even became one of the notable "Video Nasties" in England. Critics hated it, with Roger Ebert infamously giving the movie zero stars, calling it "a vile bag of garbage" that left him horrified and depressed.
Even the film's poster was ill-famed. The one-sheet shows a woman (from behind) who's barely covered in ripped, tattered clothing and holding a butcher knife as she treks through the underbrush. The tagline is salacious: "This woman has just cut, chopped, broken, and burned five men beyond recognition, but no jury in America would ever convict her!" Notably, though, the individual on the poster is not Keaton. Rather, it's a young Demi Moore, as the actor revealed in her 2019 autobiography "Inside Out."
That was Demi Moore on the I Spit on Your Grave poster
It should immediately be noted that the poster for "I Spit on Your Grave" was actually concocted for a widespread 1980 re-release of the movie. When it first hit theaters in 1978, the film was only making tours through drive-ins and other local movie houses under the title "Day of the Woman." Zarchi would drive prints around himself, wanting to make sure that it got in front of audiences' eyes. It wasn't until 1980 that the Jerry Gross Organization picked the film up for wider distribution. One of the distributor's stipulations, however, was that it could change the title and market the movie however it wanted. It chose the new title "I Spit on Your Grave" and produced the above poster of the semi-clad woman wandering through the woods. It's unlikely the company even asked Keaton to take part.
Instead, it hired Moore. The then up-and-comer had already done a lot of modeling as a teenager, and she wouldn't make her feature film debut until appearing in the 1981 film "Choices." So, for Moore, "I Spit on Your Grave" was just a gig.
Moore was only 18 at the time. Some rumor-mongers have assumed that, because "I Spit on Your Grave" was made in 1978, that Moore was underage on the poster. She wasn't, although some international magazines had previously exploited the teenage Moore in such a fashion. Reading through Moore's memoir reveals a youth of struggle. Her success was well-earned, and the Oscar-nominated Moore deserves every accolade she's ever received. Now, she's also officially connected to one of the most infamous movies of all time. That's quite admirable.