Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! It’s October! Summer is over. Hallowe’en is approaching! Pumpkin spice everything is just…. who are we kidding? Pumpkin spice flavoring has been infiltrating our cornflakes, lattes, hand soap, shoelaces… our everything since the last week of July! Nevertheless, October also marks the arrival of Inktober, the annual drawing exercise proposed by artist Jake Parker via his “Inktober” website. Every October, he posts a list of 31 “prompts” or suggestions (one for each day of the month) and challenges artists across the globe to produce a daily drawing. While I have participated for over a decade, I have never followed the rules and I have never done an October drawing based on any of his daily “prompts.” (That’s right, Dottie, I’m a rebel!) Instead, I do weekly drawing based on a seasonal topic of my own selection. This year, I chose to honor a select group of actresses upon whom Hollywood and horror fans have bestowed the moniker “Scream Queen.” This sobriquet has been around since the Golden Age of Hollywood, with actress Fay Wray acknowledged as the very first “Scream Queen,” although many others like Anne Gwynne and Mary Philbin came before her.
The 2025 version of Inktober (Josh Pincus-style) begins with Week One’s entry — Camille Keaton, star of the 1978 low-budget exploitation film I Spit on Your Grave.
Arkansas-born Camille Keaton moved to Italy in 1971 after signing a modeling contract to appear in commercials. She appeared in a number of Italian horror films (where she earned critical praise) and she posed for several Italian mens’ magazines. Camille returned to the United States and was recruited by filmmaker Meir Zarchi to star as “Jennifer Hills,” a gang-rape victim who exacts bloody revenge on her perpetrators in the now-iconic and ground-breaking film I Spit on Your Grave. Noted film critic Roger Ebert called the film “A vile bag of garbage.” Despite negative reviews, I Spit on Your Grave has since achieved cult status and is recognized as a pioneer in its genre, spawning a slew of copycats and homages. Camille married Meir Zarchi one year after I Spit on Your Grave‘s release. The couple divorced in 1982.
Camille’s career saw her take roles in a variety of commercially unsuccessful films. The films were mostly low-budget and poorly-distributed. She managed an uncredited role in the Rob Zombie film The Lords of Salem. In 1993, Camille married producer, Sid Luft (who was previously married to actress-singer Judy Garland). She remained married to Luft until his death in 2005.
In 1993, Camille was cast in an unauthorized sequel to I Spit on Your Grave, entitled Savage Vengeance. 2010 saw a remake of the film, as well as several sequels. In 2016, Camille reteamed with ex-husband Zarchi for an officially-sanctioned sequel to the original movie I Spit on Your Grave: Deja-Vu. The plot revolves around Camille’s character’s daughter experiencing a similar fate as her mother forty years later.
When VHS rentals were popular in the early 80s, Mrs. Pincus and I rented the original I Spit on Your Grave, a selection surprisingly made by Mrs. P. The film was dirty, gritty, extremely graphic and very uncomfortable to watch. Despite her aversion to horror movies (she watched Creepshow through her threaded fingers across her eyes), Mrs. P sat through I Spit on Your Grave without so much as a flinch.