Do female revenge films like these degrade or empower women?

A film like this just encourages sick people to carry out sick fantasies, be it rape or torture/murder. Since it's easier for men to carry those out against women, the only thing that films like this one lead to is, ironically, more abuse of women. We really don't need more filth like this polluting people's minds.

Simple: If it degrades a female viewer, the viewer in question has no business watching this, as she obviously isn't capable of seeing the point that this film makes. If it empowers a female viewer: Congratulations, you've successfully seen the point of this film and are therefore not completely retarded.

What is a "female" revenge movie anyway... Is this any different from what a man would do?

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The problem in this discussion is that most of you are completely missing a part of it.

There is a difference between whether something is internally empowering and thereby pseudo-feminist, whether something enhances strength in the image of women to others, making it a feminist statement (i.e. showing the world a feminist message) or whether something is a full on representation of feminism.

The movie may be experienced as empowering, perhaps by some women who consider themselves victims. And as long as they remain law abiding and in a healing process, more power to them.

That, however, does NOT make something feminist.

Its feminism lies is the message it conveys about women to the world - not the internal process on the receiver's end, but in the thing being viewed itself. What does the movie say about women and empowered women? And based on that I would call this movie anti-feminist. Because it demonizes empowerment by turning it into a synonym of revenge. Because it says a woman who fights fire with fire is empowered. The only way for a woman to take back the power from a rapist is to rape him right back - a sane woman has to stoop to the psycho's level to beat him.

That's like fighting the objectification of women by objectifying men. It just spreads the issue to both sexes rather than solving it, which is in fact NOT a feminist message. That's not empowerment, it's decline.

Don't care if it was empowering or not it was freakin awesome and satisfying. Like Carrie

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I agree with Johnny... "I don't take orders from no woman."

Well, with the way the police and courts deal with these types of rapist and killers. You best take vengeance and justice in your on hands. The police now days work to generate money( as in tickets). How many times have we seen rapist walk away with a slap on the hand or only get 15 years and they get out in 5. It happens all the time. Here in Dallas a man raped a 14 year old girl, he only got probation from the judge.
Police?? for get about it, they don't even give Mexican tickets anymore because they know they wont pay them. The Mexicans would rather spend 10 days in jail, the police can't spend the money to keep them and feed them for 10 days so they let them out in 1 day, so now, they don't even bother with it.
Judges, liberal judges are giving these punks less time, and making prisons a joke, a friend of mine went to prison for 2 years. He said you can get hand jobs from female guards for money. The whole system is a joke.
If I was on the jury and a woman was on trial for killing her rapist, she walks, I could care less how much prof they had on her.

The answer to the question is neither. It's just a movie and most women won't experience such trauma. The few women that unfortunately do won't go out and become sadistic psychopaths, or they certainly won't be influenced by a movie like this. I hate rape revenge flicks like this as they just justify 'two wrongs make a right' violence. I'm personally for the death penalty but I don't encourage people to all become vigilantes for the purpose of revenge.