All the puritan movie-critics that once labeled "I Spit on your Grave" as the worst, sickest and most gratuitously exploitative horror movie ever made (I'm looking at you, Mr. Roger Ebert) are warmly advised to stay a million miles away from this Spanish/Argentinean co-production called "I'll Never Die Alone" (lovely title, by the way). Every element that made the aforementioned Rape & Revenge milestone a "class-sick" are intensified several times here, making this one of the most unpleasant, repellent and disturbing cinematic experiences I ever witnessed. We're talking vastly extended and shockingly graphic rape sequences, uncomfortably long moments of silence, aggregating acts of retaliation, a pounding grunt soundtrack and an overall ambiance of nausea. Unless I overlooked a title, this is the first genuine throwback to the most infamous sub genre of horror of the 1970's. With the emphasis nowadays lying on torture-porn flicks and tributes to Grindhouse movies, the department of Rape & Revenge movies somewhat got pushed into oblivion lately. These new torture flicks are quite sick and mega-violent, yet none of them come even close to recreating the gritty atmosphere and level of intensity of such flicks as "House on the Edge of the Park", "Fight for your Life", the original "Last House on the Left" and of course "I spit on your Grave". With "I'll Never Die Alone"; director Adrian Garcia Bogliano impressively brings back the sickest type of 70's exploitation cinema and I'm convinced many fans of the era will welcome this film with wide-open arms. The plot is very basic and straightforward as it should be. Four young girls on a road-trip through the most rural countryside of Argentina witness the murder of another girl by a trio of poachers. As they stop by the nearest police station to get help, the trio's leader also turns out to be a higher ranked authority figure. Immediately after leaving the police station, the girls find themselves pursued by the poachers' jeep. They are barbarically raped and mutilated before the strongest once have a chance to fight back. The rape sequences are particularly excruciating because A) they are shot integrally and B) because the four lead girls appear to be incredibly young. They honestly don't look a day older as 18, which makes the shock-impact all the more intense. And either they are all four naturally gifted actresses or they were genuinely terrified during the shooting, as their facial expressions during the rapes and the rage in their eyes seem frighteningly legitimate. The bloody vengeance parts are reasonably grueling as well, including someone getting hammered to death and another bastard getting strangled by barbwire. The unsteady cinematography and raw editing may appear amateurish and low budget like, but it actually just epitomizes the raunchy tone of the film. If you are sick and tired of the nowadays exaggeratedly hyped torture flicks like "Hostel" and the numerous "Saw" sequels, try and get your dirty little hands on this authentic hardcore-to-the-bone exploitation effort.
Review of I'll Never Die Alone
