I’ve seen a few Turkish rip-offs of Hollywood hits in my time, but this is one that I never knew existed. Unlike the Turkish rip-offs I’ve watched, this Turkish version of I Spit on Your Grave doesn’t steal footage or music from its inspiration. (Although it uses Muzak versions of songs like “Something Stupid”, “Penny Lane”, and “My Bonnie”.) In fact, the set-up is entirely different.
Four skeevy guys run out of gas and go to an old man’s house for help. They get one look at his daughter (Zerrin Dogen) and decide to rape her. After killing her father, they hit the road. When she discovers his body, she swears revenge and sets out to seduce and murder the men one by one.
The flick clocks in at less than an hour, so it’s a full forty minutes shorter than Grave. Unlike the American version, this one wastes no time getting to the depravity. Ten minutes into the movie and our heroine has already been repeatedly abused and defiled. It’s not nearly as effective as its American counterpart, but it’s not entirely without merit either. (The scene where she contemplates suicide before settling upon a course of revenge is pretty good too… unnecessary zooms aside.) A Woman Like That also has the distinction of being the first Turkish adult film (according to IMDb), and the consensual sex scenes elsewhere in the film are crude, and not exactly sexy, but I guess it’s not bad for a first try.
The revenge scenes are likewise crude. However, that’s kind of what makes it work. Sure, it pales in comparison to the original, but taken on its own accord, it kinda works. In fact, the more you distance it from I Spit on Your Grave, the better it plays.
Even with the abbreviated running time, there’s a lot of stuff going on, plot wise. Much of it that has nothing to do with I Spit on Your Grave. The subplot with a police detective investigating the murders is unnecessary, but it’s handled economically enough, all things considered.
Dogen is surprisingly good. I particularly liked the scene where she transforms herself from a homely farmgirl into a sexy avenging angel by going out and buying new clothes and getting her hair and nails done. The way she reverts back to her peasant look to (literally) stick it to her main tormentor was a nice touch too. I also liked the way director Naki Yurter framed the scenes of the newly empowered Dogen in the second half of the film. Some of the angles where she’s towering over the camera have a Russ Meyer feel to them.
Overall, A Woman Like That is a solid Rape n’ Revenge picture. If you never knew it was a Turkish version of I Spit on Your Grave, you might not have even caught the connection. I watched it on Thanksgiving, and it certainly was no turkey.
AKA: Turkish I Spit on Your Grave. AKA: She is Such a Woman.
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