The Bearded Weirdo Salutes... Camille Keaton

In 1978, one of the most shocking and controversial exploitation films of all time was unleashed on an unsuspecting world, one that is still hotly debated even today, several decades after the film's initial release. A sleazy spectacle of violation and vengeance, I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE remains as divisive for modern audiences as it was for those of the 1970's grindhouses. Is it misogynistic hate-porn hiding beneath a veneer of backwoods survival horror? Or is it a chillingly, chargingly aggressive, uncompromising feminist statement? A little of both, perhaps? Neither?

Whether you end up loving it or loathing it, it's unlikely that a screening of I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE will leave any viewer unaffected in some way. For those among us who are indeed fans of the film, however, there is no doubt a single actress' name which, when spoken, causes goosebumps to rise all over one's body. That actress is Camille Keaton, and this is my tribute to her.

Camille Keaton, the Bearded Weirdo salutes you!

As her surname implies, the lovely Ms. Keaton is the kin of Hollywood royalty, being in fact the grand-niece of silent film legend Buster Keaton. Though the world of moving pictures would beckon them both, Camille would find notoriety in genres more harsh and lurid than classical comedy. In 1972, Camille debuted in WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE? (a.k.a. THE SCHOOL THAT COULDN'T SCREAM, TERROR IN THE WOODS, THE MYSTERY OF THE GREEN PIN, SAVAGE, WHO'S NEXT?, YOUNG GIRL GETS STABBED, and TERROR IN THE SCHOOLYARD) a standout giallo thriller directed by Massimo Dallamano. Though Ms. Keaton's role was very small, the movie was one of the strongest giallo titles to come out of Italy, and the picture would go on to leave quite an impression within future cult film circles. Likewise, Camille's appearance, though brief, also left an unshakeable mark. Offering a subdued, subtle, sad-eyed performance, bolstered by her naturally ethereal, porcelain physique, Camille Keaton's appearance in SOLANGE was no less than haunting, and stayed with viewers long after her character’s face faded from the screen.

That same year, Camille posed nude as a centerfold for Italy's Playmen magazine. Two years later, she would make a second appearance in the magazine, this time with the cover itself being dedicated to her striking form. With her full lips, seductive eyes, earthy brown hair, milky white skin, and slender, delicate body, Camille Keaton was, physically, a mixture of a smiling, tranquil 70's era flower-child mixed with the elegance of a high society lady with fine taste and a playfully salacious dark side lurking beneath a staid demeanor. For the record, I'm not normally so taken with "skinny chicks," but for Camille here I make an exception. Her's is a beauty almost mystical in nature. Like a fair-haired nymph in a folk tale, Camille Keaton is no less than enchanting.

Remarkably, she is just as sexy, gorgeous, and hypnotic today as she was back then. The passing years have been kind to Ms. Keaton where they have not to some of her cult cinema contemporaries. She has aged like a fine wine, becoming only more beautiful over time. Call her a cougar, call her a M.I.L.F. However you say, it adds up to one word: hawt.

Following her sojourn through SOLANGE and her presence in Playmen, Camille added three more Italian features (TRAGIC CEREMONY, THE EVIL EYE, and STUDY OF A NIGHTMARE) to her ever-growing list of film credits, before finally hooking up with infamous filmmaker Meir Zarchi for an expedition into exploitation eternity. I'm speaking, of course, about the role that made Ms. Keaton a name to never be forgotten. I'm talking about the movie that would go down in history and make wretched royalty of its unsuspecting star. Naturally, I'm referring to I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE.

However you feel about the film, its lasting impact cannot be understated. It's even had its own big budget modern-day remake, which came and went like a fart on the wind. It was always doomed to the delete bin, y'see, for its common knowledge seemingly to everyone but said remake's creators that no picture could ever duplicate the raw intensity and critic-enraging edginess of the original. Nor could any contemporary Megan Fox wanna-be deliver the kind of powerful, moving, soul-crushing performance that Camille Keaton conjured up way back when.

In many ways, it is Ms. Keaton's performance that gives I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE its strength and its validity (I'm speaking now of my own personal opinion, mind you... as I'm well aware that there are many movie buffs out there who refuse to admit that I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE has any kind of strength or validity whatsoever). It is she who also makes the movie's most harrowing sequences that much more harrowing, and their aftermath that much more heartbreaking. Camille Keaton gives her character both vulnerability and independence, the same vulnerability and independence that comes through everytime she's ever been on-screen or in a magazine.

Rarely does I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE receive the credit it is due, oft-times being simply shrugged off as degrading filth with no redeeming value. Likewise, rarely does Camille Keaton get the recognition she deserves for the incredible performance she contributed to the picture, as critics are too busy spitting venom at the movie's content to ever stop and consider such things as acting. It's a dreadful case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater, as Camille's performance in I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE is easily one of the finest performances of any exploitation film released in the 1970's. Hell, I'd go so far as to say it rivals performances by many of the big-name actors in films of that era, exploitation or otherwise. In the decade in which I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE was released, I can think of only a handful of other performances that could equal Camille Keaton's for sheer genius, and one of those performances is that of Robert DeNiro in TAXI DRIVER, so that should give you an idea of the kind of good company she's in.

Alas, the mainstream has mostly ignored this talented actress and flat-out smokin' babe (sorry, I don't mean to get lewd, but there's just no better way to put it than the bluntest way possible, I feel), leaving only cult movie connoisseurs and exploitation addicts like myself to sing her praises. My only comfort is that the Cult Of Camille Keaton is growing, as new generations are exposed to films like I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE or TRAGIC CEREMONY or WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE? (or even 1982's chaotic kung-fu clusterfuck RAW FORCE, in which Ms. Keaton appeared briefly as the reverently dubbed character "Girl In Toilet") and are showering this marvelous muse with all the accolades she deserves. Even the sharpened prison shiv stab of I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE has been dulled a bit over time, and, though it continues to be a heavily argued point of contention for genre fans, its army of supporters seems to add more members to its base every year. More and more, I find, people are finally "getting it" and recognizing Camille Keaton for being a profound performer, a tawdry temptress, and, best of all, a genuine feminist icon. Jolly good!

On a personal note, I had the opportunity to share words with Ms. Keaton at a convention last year, and I found her to be charming, intelligent, and kind. She also seemed authentically flattered when I told her how amazing I felt her performance in I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE was. Of course, I left out the part about how I've rubbed one out to her Playmen spread from time to time. But that's beside the point. The point is, I'm glad to see Camille out there, interacting with her fans, hearing praise on a regular basis from the people who understand and appreciate her work. Because, despite the caustic nature of the films she's made her career with, it couldn't happen to a nicer person.

Nor a hotter one.

Camille Keaton, once again, the Bearded Weirdo salutes you!