Customer Reviews

Cabin Fever

5 star:		(58)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(42)
2 star:		(32)
1 star:		(89)

 

 

Wow, I was really surprised to see that this movie got bad reviews from some people. In my opinion this film is nothing short of a classic! I absolutely loved it! I had always had an itch to rent this film, since I am a huge horror fan and since it had received such enthusiastic reviews from movie critics (which is rare for horror films), but being the geek that I am, I sometimes do a little background research before renting a movie. This often includes consulting with the Amazon crowd to get a general idea of what the public consensus is before heading to the video store. Consequently, I kept passing up this film due to one too many negative reviews.

Well, I finally decided to give a shot, and I have to say this is by far and away one of the best horror movies I have ever seen! Ok...if you are not a fan of the horror genre, chances are you are not going to appreciate this film. But for genuine horror fans, I think that most will agree that it doesn't get much better than this. Everything about this film works-the cinematography is extraordinary, the special effects are brilliantly gruesome, and the musical score creates a tension that is beyond anything I have ever experienced during a movie (if you watch it a second time pay careful attention to the music and you will understand why this movie causes so much tension). The acting performances are above average for a horror film, and the dialogue is unforced and natural. One of the major flaws in horror movies is that bad acting and unnatural dialogue are distracting and prevent the audience from getting involved with the film. The characters in this film are believable, which is more than you can ask for in this genre.

I get so bored with some horror movies, and my mind starts to wander away and think about work or making a pastrami sandwich. But Cabin Fever sucked me in...big time. When a movie can draw you in and make you experience what the characters are experiencing--than it is successful. Overall, I would say that this film is a contemporary horror masterpiece. But don't just take my word for it--check out what some other critics had to say about it http://www.cabinfevermovie.com/reviews.html

Five teenagers, freshly graduated from college, decide to rush off to a cabin in the woods that they rented to party and celebrate their graduation. Ostensibly they rented the cabin from someone, which should mean that there's a line of communication available to them later in the film when they desperately need it, but apparently there isn't.

So it's a horror film, and with these kids in the cabin we should be expecting a clone of Jason Voorhees or some clone to come crash the party and kill them all, right? Wrong. The culprit is a flesh eating virus, and eventually "culprit" becomes plural as they turn against themselves and others. The movie gets a small nod for an intriguing approach (flesh eating virus instead of Jason clone), but no marks beyond that.

Saddest to see was that the Director/Writer Eli Roth and the entire cast took this film seriously. The dialogue was unrealistic and laughable at times, and each scene appeared either more improbable or ridiculous than the one before. The surviving characters also gained an interesting quality that most characters shouldn't gain in a film that strives to take itself seriously: stupidity. Yes, they get dumber. Their collective and individual responses to stress and difficult situations actually get worse as the movie progresses. In whatever art form that aims to take itself seriously - be it writing a book or making a film - characters are supposed to grow, to learn. With one exception, these characters start with a brain, and end with a mostly empty cranium. The one exception is a character that begins with an empty cranium. Surprisingly, he alone experiences a small amount of growth. But it doesn't matter, because it's too small and irrelevant.

There's a frustrating dearth of good horror films. There's no shortage of horror movies that began with an imbecilic notion and carry it through to an imbecilic end. To me there is little more frustrating than a well intentioned horror film with a unique and fresh approach that gets it all wrong.

This could have been one of the few good ones. Instead it turned out to be a parody of itself. As the movie came to conclusion, I really wasn't sure whether or not I was supposed to be laughing along with the film or at it - but one thing I was sure of is that I was laughing. Being unsure of how I was supposed to respond to the movie was the only reason I watched the special features on the DVD, and I learned, sadly, that I was not supposed to be laughing along with the film.

Too bad. It is Eli Roth's debut as a writer/director. If you're true and honest to your craft you grow as you practice it. Perhaps future endeavors will be better.

I hope so.

why so many people hate this is easy to figure out...they had too many high hopes for the movie,and when it didnt turn out the way they wanted it..they started bashing it.this movie is for the real old school/die hard horror movie fans like me.many people say its not scary,but in a way it is.its scary because there actully is a skin eating virus that actully does this.now tell me whats more scarier???a madeup killer in a ski mask with an ax,or a real life virus that can actully kill u???its not rocket science.the movie is about 5 college students who head to a cabin in the woods for sex,fun,and drinking beer.the first day one of the teens is out hunting and accidently shoots an old hermit with bloody scares on his face.
when he asks for help the teenager gets scared and shoots at the hermit again wounding him.that night we meet grim and his dog dr. mombo.also that night the hermit comes back to the cabin who is now more bloodier with holes in his skin.when the kids refuse to help him,he breaks into their truck,but the kids come out with weapons to scare him off and results with the hermit running off while lit on fire.
this hermit had a virus that eats away your skin and makes u puke loads of blood up.after this our charecters to get infected with the virus,and most decide on how to deal with all the violence surrounding them.
this movie pays homage to many of the 70s and 80s horror movies such as:last house on the left,cujo,the texas chainsaw massacre,night of the living dead,dawn of the dead,the thing,and the evil dead.another thing it brings back from the 70s and 80s is the blood and gore.wow!!!havent seen gore like this for a long time.
contains spoilers for people who havent seen it yet.we see a dog who has been spit down its stomach and we can see inside its bloody body and blood squirts on a mans face.the hermit is bloody in one scene.we see a reinactment of a story being told of people getting killed in a bowling alley.this shows people being hit in the head with a hammer and having thier body parts chopped off with an ax,and the killer bowling with the parts...this scence is kind of disturbing,but also kind of funny,and also has a nice deal of blood in it.the hermit returns and he pukes a load of blood all over the kids trucks,and is still bloody from having the virus.we see a pig that has just been gutted and we see its intestins haging out of the body.
when paul is fooling around with karen..he thinks he is finging her,but he is actully fingering the bloody hole in her thigh caused by the virus which causes blood on pauls fingers.when ready to leave,they go to get karen and they see her legs with many holes in them and covered in blood,as is her blanket and mattras she was sleeping on,and she then vomits up blood on the truck and ground.bert has blood coming from his neck when he has the virus.bert lader has blood all over his arms and rubs the blood a tree as a distraction.a woman shaving her legs shaves off her skin since she has the virus which causes lots of blood to run from her legs and holes in her back.
a woman gets completly eaten by a dog and we see many bloody pieces of her scattered around.a man turns over a woman to see her body very bloody and has lost her lips on a count of the virus,the man then beats her to death with a shovel which causes blood to spray on his face.a man gets shot in the head which causes his head to expload which causes lots of blood,brain,and skull to splatter on the wall.a man is hit in the face with a canteen which causes blood to start spewing from his mouth and he is killed.a man is stabbed in the ear with a screwdriver which as blood running from his ear.a man is shot in the side with blood splattering everywhere,and is then speared in the back while trying to craw away..the impact of the spear causes blood to splatter on the killers shirt.we see a man that was either cut or torn in half and we see the blood and some intestins there.a man hits a deer which is a little bloody,but then the man shoots the deer which causes lots of blood to splatter on his face.a man starts puking up blood on people at a party and a man that had a harmonica stuck in his neck pukes up some blood.we see a very bloody man lying in a river.
sorry if i gave away too much information...i was just trying to warn people that this is a very sick movie with lots of gore,but that doesnt mean u shouldnt see it.its very good and brings something new and cool to the horror gerne.

While some may view Eli Roth's Cabin Fever as "just another teen horror flick", the film is actually quite refreshing. Never since the 1995 satyrical horror movie "Scream" have I been so impressed by a movie of this kind. The plot entails a group of college students who rent a cain in the woods. The vacation seems to be going accordingly until Burt, played by James DeBello comes across a man with a horrid skin infection, and subsequently shoots him with a B.B. gun. Instead of trying to help the man, the main characters panic and end up killing him. The movie then becomes a question of who is infected, how the infection travels, and what to do with those who becoming infected (i.e. inhumanely locking them in the shed). Cabin Fever's plot succeeds, with the perfect combination of horror, gore, and outrageous humor.
More importantly, the film succeeds where most of its kind fails. Whereas most horror movies of this generation display characters that quickly die off, without the viewer ever developing a notion of their true colors, Cabin Fever successfully develops its characters. For example, Jeff, played by Joey Kern comes off as arrogant and selfish; (not to spoil the ending for those who haven't seen it). Therefore when he meets his unfortunate fate, it's almost a celebrated occasion by the viewer. Not to mention Rider Strong's role, (previously of the hit show "Boy Meets World"), which I found rather refreshing, as he embarks on a brief but gory killing spree. Perhaps my favorite character in the film is Burt, played by James DeBello, from "Detroit Rock City". DeBello brings the majority of the humor in "Cabin Fever" with his goofy antics and rediculous stories about masterbation. In addition, the two leading female roles played by Jordan Ladd and Cerina Vincent, although they do not bring much substance to the movie, contribute to the film simply by being stunningly attractive. On a side note, for those who are not aware, the film's director Eli Roth has a small cameo as "Grim", the pot smoking skater, with a vicious dog named Dr. Mambo.
To sum it all up: an original story plot, well developed characters, humor in all the right places (while at times extremely bizarre; i.e. Dennis, the biting Pancake boy), and non-stop action, taking gore to new heights. And not to get analytical about a movie that clearly has little to be analyzed on the surface, but take note at the director's message about human nature that is made obvious by the end of the film. The main characters are viewed similarly to the way they viewed the infected man in the woods at the beginning of the film. In a sense, the movie depicts the ignorance of humans, and how their innappropriate behavior may result in drastic occurences (the whole town perceivedly becoming infected and probably others, as the trucks leave the town carrying infected water). Cabin Fever is fun and entertaining, with all of the necessary components to create such a film.

When Five Friends (Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent & Joey Kern) decide spend a Weekend deep into the Mountains. Thinking that they will have the greatest Spring Break ever until a man (Arie Verveen), who turns sick. When the man was attacked by the five friends and he gets buried and then once he dies. His body is still effected and the Virus Spreads slowly to their Cabin. When one of them gets sick, they realized that anyone could be next but once they turn to each other and themselves and realize that the disease is the least of their problems.

Directed by First-Time Director:Eli Roth makes this darkly humour horror film, that is at time geuinely scary and funny. Roth appears in a Cameo, he`s also One of the Film`s Producers, He Recieves Story Credit and Co-Written the Screenplay. Guiseppe Andrews, who`s better known in the film-Detroit Rock City. Andrews has a funny bit role as a Fun Loving Partygoer Police Deputy in the film. Also DeBello was in Detroit Rock City also. This film was shot under $2 Million and it`s looks great, thanks to Scott Kevan`s Excellent Cinematography. There`s a Terrific Make-Up F/X Work by KNB EFX Inc (Evil Dead 2:Dead by Dawn, Evil Dead 3:Army of Darkness). There`s also a fine music score by Nathan Barr and Angelo Badalamenti. Which Badalamenti is Better Known as David Lynch`s Composer.

DVD Features has Five Commentaries Tracks!, which is all five are done by the Director:Roth (Who seems to be really proud of this film). Roth does have a solo commentary. The Another Four Tracks are with the filmmakers, his family members, his friends & cast members. DVD has also an Behind the Scenes Featurette, Director`s Animated Shots and more. DVD`s has a sharp anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1) transfer and an terrific-Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. This film is not for the Squamish but the film is actually well reviews by Critics and Including Oscar-Winner:Peter Jackson (Director of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) loves this film! Do not miss this unique Black Comedy Horror Film. Super 35. Grade:A-.

Eli Roth is my new love and obsession. What a fantastic movie!

I read some of the reviews, and I have to wonder if these people saw the same movie I did. This is easily one of the best horror movies I've ever seen. Personally, I think it has the dark humor of "Heathers" mixed with the creep appeal of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". And I've watched it three times in less than a week. (The first time was by myself; the next two times were with friends that I wanted to see the movie.)

The opening scene is a classic. In less than two minutes, the director establishes that this movie will have a "Kids in the Hall" type of humor by focusing on a rather doofy hermit bringing a dead rabbit to his dog. The hermit is too out there to realize his dog is as dead as the bunny. But just as you start to think you understand Eli's mix of pathos and comedy, he delivers the punchline: leave all expectations at the door, because nothing is going to end like you think it should. A major gross-out two minutes into the film, and that's before you meet the racist gay store owner who sells fox urine or the bleach blond psychopathic karate kid. I'm there.

If you're looking for a poignant and intense character study of five people put in a horrifying situation, rent "Breakfast Club" instead. For all their efforts, the main stars of this movie are just slightly past the cardboard cutout stage. But in a way, that makes the movie even better. It's easier to identify with all of them, because they're not obvious stereotypes, but they're not unique either. Close your eyes, and you're renting a cabin with half the graduating class.

The director himself shows up a few minutes later as the majorly cute stoner dude (which is actually one of the rare weaknesses of the movie - it becomes painfully clear that his character was needed to introduce the scariest dog since Cujo into the mix and serves no other purpose other than to let Eli play dead).

But then the movie goes darker than most horror movies dare, with some of the most unsettling scenes ever put on film. Forget the cliched ax in the head - after this movie, you will never want to let your fingers do the walking again.

Eli gives us the best of classic horror movies, like naked breasts (a staple of horror movies that has unfortunately been forgotten in the age of "Scream") and brain-dead police officers. But he also gives us screwdrivers in the ear (what exactly was in that kit, anyway?) and characters being eaten alive.

If you are looking for a scary movie that is intensely serious, I highly recommend the new "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" movie. It's got good acting, cinematography, and mood, and it's creepy as anything. But if you want to see something that's scary and fun and disturbing and just plain excellent, something that wants to shock and disgust you and then make you laugh two seconds later, give this movie a try. Do yourself a favor and ignore the bad reviews by the children that want bloody carnage and nothing else. "Cabin Fever" has a plot and a majorly twisted sense of humor (two things that most fanboys shy away from), and it's worth watching. This isn't just another lazy "Friday the 13th" retread. Instead, it's spooky and crazy and fantastic, funny and gross and a major classic. Rent it if you don't believe me. But don't be surprised if you end up buying the movie after you see it.

With any luck, you'll love this movie as much as I did. Take care!

I initially expressed some measure of excitement when I learned about Eli Roth's "Cabin Fever." After reading a description of the film before its release date, the idea of a flesh-eating virus ravaging the tender bodies and souls of a crop of youthful vacationers in the woods immediately sent me into paroxysms of delight. A ton of horror movies have set their nightmares in the deep forests (think "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "Evil Dead," Friday the 13th," and about a billion others), but none dared employ a nasty little bug with the ability to melt flesh off of bone. The potential for a high grue count virtually assured that "Cabin Fever" would find its way onto my DVD rental list. Sadly, watching Roth's film considerably dampened my enthusiasm for viral mayhem. Why? A whole host of reasons contributed to my dismay. "Cabin Fever" could have been a highly original romp into an entirely new field of horror; instead, director and creator Roth gives his audience a film with ideas hashed together from a half dozen other films. One can only pray plans for a sequel have been quietly shelved away in the filing cabinet marked "Been there, done that."

A gang of raucous young kids heads out into the woods for a few days of drinking and general mischief. The group, consisting of Paul (Ryder Strong), Karen (Jordan Ladd), Bert (James DeBello), Jeff (Joey Kern), and Marcy (Cerina Vincent), are an unlikable lot of arrogant jerks. Bert, for example, likes the idea of subsisting solely on beer for the entire trip when he isn't toting a gun out in the woods blasting away at anything that moves. Paul spends all of his time desperately trying to get Karen to notice him in "that" way, a behavior that is sort of admirable from a third grader but pathetic from a grown man. Marcy and Jeff are cloying as an inseparable couple that likes to argue when they aren't spending quality time alone in the cabin. The gang roars into "town" and quickly encounters trouble with a shopkeeper, his toothy kid, and a cashier who looks like Santa Claus but spouts racial slurs. What a wonderful way to spend a weekend! I think I would have expressed grave doubts about heading further into the woods at this point. But when a script calls for mayhem no matter what the cost, reality takes a flying leap out the window.

Unfazed by this bizarre encounter with the townies, the kiddies push on to the cabin where more weirdness promptly ensues. A stoner (a shameless cameo by Roth himself) rambles out of the woods, stops by the fire, and proceeds to freak our heroes out before disappearing again for most of the film. Then there is Bert's incident with an obviously ill local in the woods. After almost shooting the guy, Bert realizes the bloke is sick and runs away from him. Later, this guy shows up at the cabin in terrible shape, spouting blood and threatening to break the door in. The guys go outside with weapons in an effort to scare the local off, but only succeed in trashing their own vehicle after a vicious fight breaks out. Eventually, sick guy ends up face down in the cabin's water supply. You can almost guess what happens next: the kids start to get sick. Karen falls victim first to the gluey effects of the virus. As the rest of the group learns what is happening, tensions start to emerge. No one wants this nasty bug, so the first item on the agenda involves locking Karen up in a shack outside the cabin. Unfortunately, this remedy doesn't work. Everyone soon gets the virus and passes on in horrible ways. The locals, xenophobic hicks the lot of them, come after the kids in order to stop the virus from spreading. Buckets of blood, exploding heads and rotting bodies, and a tough decision for Paul sums up "Cabin Fever."

Roth's film, aside from a not so covert racism directed against white rural folks, is actually quite boring and derivative. You'll see shades of everything from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" to "Night of the Living Dead" in this movie, except those films did what they did better than Roth does it here. Moreover, the movie makes the mistake of not being as gory as it could have been. If Roth wanted to rip off other films, he should have just held his nose and made a Peter Jackson gorefest. Instead, the camera often cuts away from particularly ghastly incidents. Even worse, and unforgivable, is the generally unfocused feel of the film. After the picture reaches its mid-point, it seems to lose any sense of direction by introducing brand new ideas. What's up with the scene where a local lady slaughters a pig? How does that fit into the larger scope of the film in any way? And what's with the sudden hostility of the local populace? The only redeeming feature of "Cabin Fever" is James DeBello doing his "dumb guy with bipolar mood swings" shtick to good effect as the over the top Bert.

The "Special Edition" DVD has a load of boring extras. Aside from a few trailers for films like "The Job," "Serial Killing 101," and "Cabin Fever," there's a behind the scenes featurette, a mess of commentaries, a really lame collection of short films made by auteur Roth, and a "family" version of the film that runs for approximately thirty seconds. Ha ha. I recommend "Cabin Fever" only to those hardcore horror fans that simply must see as many genre pictures as possible. All others would do well to stay away. If you want to see better horror films, check out the movies this one rips off, for example "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "Evil Dead," and "Night of the Living Dead."

The reviewer who described this film as a 'Karaoke performance' was right on the mark. Roth - the director - is merely an imitator, an homage-merchant, and this film's skeletal structure is unashamedly taken directly from films like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Evil Dead", "The Hills Have Eyes" and, to a lesser extent, "Night Of The Living Dead" and "The Blair Witch Project". And the substance (the meat) of this film is precisely along the surrealistic lines of David Lynch's style of direction - which would explain why also some reviewers may see similarities to the original surrealist film makers, the Italians, i.e., Bava, Leone, Antonioni, Argento, etc.

However - like Karaoke - this comparison does not make the film fully unentertaining or without its own original qualities and merits. The film is very well done; very well scored; very well choreographed and shot; convincingly gruesome and despairing; and the acting is precisely as it should be - downplayed and reflective of these types of characters; even though NOT ONE is likeable in the least way, and will be the dominant reason you'll wish to stop watching the film. 'Course, concerning the latter, most (not all) horror films produced after the 1960s had leading characters that the audience were not sympathetic to; which makes me think that this aspect of 'Cabin Fever' was also intended by its director.

The only thing that separates this film from the other films it imitates is its antogonist: a flesh-eating disease. However, despite this difference, 'Cabin Fever' is no different than the other films that are seen through the 'killer's' eyes; and the viewer will be along every step of the way, knowing precisely what will be coming next, and giving the few suprises the film holds in store all that much more impact by comparison.

I don't think this film is deserved of anymore than 3 stars; but I also don't think this film is deserved of any less than 3.

'Cabin Fever' is the best film of its kind: a reflective homage to a few inspirational and highly popular 70s/early 80s independent horror films. It's simple, darkly humourous, grotesque, disturbing, horrifying (to those who still know how to be horrified), and lots of fun. 'Cabin Fever' doesn't pretend to be anything else, so don't expect anything else.

Probably the most hyped backwoods horror flick of 2003, Cabin Fever received early marks from many critics as a great return to 80's style horror. Lion's Gate Films was the lucky studio that got its hands on the picture for distribution, but upon wide release, seemingly most horror fans who saw it proclaimed it one of the worst films of the year. Kinda makes you question if pre-release hype is the slightest bit reliable (I remember people talking about how terrible the script for the Dawn of the Dead remake was, but it turned out to be the best horror film since The Ring).

Sporting an opening not too dissimilar from The Evil Dead, Cabin Fever begins with five teens going on a trip to the woods for a weekend of fun and relaxation. Among the teens are nice guy Paul (Rider Strong), who's desperate to sleep with his best friend Karen (Jordan Ladd), horny couple Jeff and Marcy (Joey Kern and Cerina Vincent), and goofball Bert (James DeBello), who gets on everyone else's nerves on so many occasions, I wondered why the others bothered to bring him along.

They reach their cabin with little problem and everything goes well at first; Jeff and Marcy fornicate without abandon, Karen kisses Paul for the first time, and Bert is having fun shooting at the small local wildlife. But the arrival of a sick man infected with a skin-eating disease at their door one night leads to total disaster, he vomits blood all over their car, which gets trashed, and runs off burning when Paul jabs him with a "torch." Thinking their immediate problems are over, the teens just want to get a mechanic to fix their car, but an even worse problem arises, the flesh-eating bacteria has somehow passed on to one of them, resulting in paranoia and disease that will lead to a literal bloodbath.

Cabin Fever is a film where one gets the distinct impression that the writer/director is truly an enthusiastic horror fan that wants to pay homage to as many genre classics as possible, while also carving this film its own niche as a scary, funny gorefest. And certainly, director Eli Roth gets much of the film right and has a strong handle when it comes to pacing and dreadful anticipation.

CF is already effective merely because of its premise; the fear of hideous bodily horror is something that probably spooks most of us, I know it has that effect on me. For the most part, Roth plays this for all its worth, we get numerous scenes of the teens trying to avoid touching others who are infected, and lots of scenes of victims vomiting blood and peeling flesh. Disgusting, but undeniably eye-catching and hard to turn away from.

Roth also smartly develops the characters first, which has been a surprisingly growing trend recently (Wrong Turn and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake also attempted to flesh out their characters first). This is not to say we've got full-on, three-dimensional characterizations at work here, but the protagonists are generally likeable, particularly Rider Strong and Jordan Ladd. Hottie Cerina Vincent has the unenviable task of playing the [promiscuous woman], but the role is played with more intelligece than usual, and it's great to see nudity in a time when most slashers shy away from bare flesh (it's too bad one of Cerina's nude scenes is during a particularly uncomfortable moment).

But Cabin Fever is marred with astoundingly idiotic scenes and plot twists and turns. The initial set-up, that of the teens having to deal with the disease, is a great one. But throwing in gun-toting rednecks and a weird kid obsessed with biting people was a bad move. The only logical reason I figure Roth included the backwoods folks was to give the movie a higher bodycount and throw in more opportunities for gruesome mayhem. Sure, the violence is pretty hypnotic in a "wow, I can't believe I just saw that" way that most mainstream big-studio films try to stray away from, but it comes at too much of a cost to the film's initially solid premise.

The whole mess in the film occurs because the sick hermit went to the teens for help. Then we later find out he's actually the cousin of a nearby meat factory worker. Why didn't he just go to her for help instead, especially considering she's already aware of a disease being passed around to the wildlife and is likely familiar with the whereabouts of the local hospital. There are also questions involving who got infected when, but there's enough context clues that it's not particularly bothersome that we don't see the exact moment of infection. We just never find out where the disease originated from, not that it really matters.

Roth's attempts at morbid laughs range from rock solid (the bowling story) to just eye-rollingly ridiculous (Paul's constant mishaps, whether it's a ladder that breaks, murderous rednecks, a dangerous dog, a deer conveniently in the middle of the road, and the local police force). In fact, I'm not even sure if Roth meant for the latter half of the film to even be taken seriously. When you've got a kid with a mullet yelling "pancakes!" and performing half-assed martial arts moves in slow motion, you know something has seriously gone wrong.

Even that doesn't compare to the terrible final scenes, which actually features creepy music accompanying a scene that I think Roth wanted for us to expect another bloody surprise, then suddenly segues into rap music that then abruptly switches to banjo music. I can only say, what the hell? The constant switch of music is bad enough, the scene it goes with is actually even worse.

But for all the mistakes the second half makes, I still had a pretty good time. Cabin Fever is never boring, a rarity in horror these days, and it avoids some cliches that I would have expected in a bigger budget slasher (though given the direction this film takes, I might actually have preferred some of those cliches). Great score by Angelo Badalamenti, too, no surprise there.

"Cabin Fever" is one of those movies that you don't know where to categorize it. Is it a creepy horror flick? Does it show signs of hilarious comedy? Or is this movie just going to be filled with gore? "Cabin Fever" has all of these characteristics and that's why I'm thrilled with this film. Horror movies are one of my favorite genres and I love when comedy is mixed into the bag. I, like others, am not a huge fan of explicit gore, but this movie uses it to its full potential.

"Cabin Fever" was directed by Eli Roth, who I'm hoping will do more work in the future. His directing was fantastic and kept everything at a fast pace, but gave us time to learn about our characters and who they were and what they did. Supposedly, Roth came up with the idea for the movie, because he had a flesh-eating virus himself. It was kind of creepy when you learn that there are actually viruses out there.

Paul (Rider Strong), the kind, wise person, Bert (James DeBello), the idiot, but lovable guy, Karen (Jordan Ladd), the virginal sweetheart, Marcy (Cerina Vincent), the sexy, sweet girl, and Jeff (Joey Kern), the arrogant, mean guy, have just finished their finals and are going up to the mountains for some rest and relaxation. They rent a cabin in the woods that is close to the local reservoir. When they get there, they go there separate ways for the day. Bert stumbles upon a hermit who keeps exclaiming, "I'm s-i-i-c-c-k-k!!" Bert, not knowing what to do, tries to shoot away at the man, hoping not to get his disease. Bert, of course, does not tell the rest of the group. That night the hermit tries to take their car into town. The five finally burn him and he flees the area. It is later that we learn that the infected man has landed in the reservoir and now the drinking water coming to the cabin has deadly bacteria. Soon, Karen gets sick and the rest panic. Jeff runs off with a six-pack of beer as his only drinking source. Paul and Marcy stay at home with Karen. Bert tries to get help from the local market store, but later is hunted because he too has the virus and has spread it to another person. This basically sets up the whole plot of the film.

Plot - The plot of the movie was different for a change. It wasn't like we had a regular killer in the woods scenario. No, this time it was a bacteria. Also, the idea of your friends turning on you is an intense thing. Nobody can be trusted. There are plot holes in the story though. For instance, where did the virus come from? Why did Dennis keep yelling, "Pancakes", and doing all this kung fu? Where did the giant bunny come from? If you see the movie, you probably be thinking the same question. Yet, overall the plot was very good. Plot - 92/100

Acting - I thought the acting was off and on. Rider Strong did an okay job as Paul. I just don't see him as the lead in the film. He had his moments though. Joey Kern did a great job as the mean-spirited Jeff. I really didn't like his character and it just shows how much time Kern put his time into it. I thought Cerina Vincent showed her acting abilities to the best. She actually cried at one point in the film. I don't know if it was because her friends were dying or she figured that she was going to die. Either way, it was good to see that. Yet, again the man who stands out is James DeBello. He is by far, my favorite of all rising stars. In my Detroit Rock City review, I stated the same thing about how he stole the show. He does the same here. In the beginning, I had a dislike for him. As the film progressed, I really came to care about his character and what happened to him. Instead of being the cocky jerk, he turned into the responsible, caring guy. The acting was great. Acting - 95/100

Special FX/Gore - First off, this movie wasn't keen on special effects and I give it credit for that. Today, in horror films, there is all this CGI and I don't like that. Only when a film needs it (Jeepers Creepers 2 for example), I understand. Eli Roth knew that he didn't need any computer images in this movie. I thank him for that. He said he paid homage to other "old-school" horror movies also. I heard that some parts of the movie were paying respects to them like Dawn of the Dead (still have to view), Night of the Living Dead, Evil Dead, and more. There was a lot of gore in this movie though. As stated before, I'm not a total fan of all the blood and guts, but this movie used it perfectly. It didn't overuse it, but it was done effectively. There are some nasty things though (many girls may never shave their legs again). Yet, it was done outstandingly. Special FX/Gore - 100/100 (because they didn't use any), and 94/100

Pacing - The pacing in the movie was very good. It isn't exactly as fast paced as "Wrong Turn" (you can see that review also), but it still was good. It took its time, by letting us get to know who these five people were. You actually care about the characters and what is happening to them. It makes you more interesting in the story and when the good parts start coming, you're glued. It gets going halfway in and doesn't stop. Pacing - 94/100

Overall - 95/A - An enjoyable experience that was too good to be true. It was fun, gory, hilarious, corny, and intriguing. Supposedly, there is to be a sequel. If they do make one, they better take a lot of time and effort into making it really great.