Cabin Fever

I'd been avoiding films by Eli Roth because they just seemed vile.  So called "torture porn" like HOSTEL and GREEN INFERNO.  I caught a few scenes of the Keanu Reeves thriller KNOCK KNOCK, which my wife understandably bailed on after about half an hour.  My first awareness of Roth was his role as the "Bear Jew" in INGLOURIOUIS BASTERDS.  He was pretty good in that.  I also enjoyed his guest spot on the Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary hosted "Video Archives" podcast.  Ingratiating and knowledgeable.  But I wasn't all that interested in his brand of what appeared to be the trashiest sort of contemporary horror. 

Then I remembered he directed the trailer for a fake horror movie called THANKSGIVING in QT and Robert Rodriguez's gonzo double feature (within one movie) GRINDHOUSE.  That was clever enough.  I figured I should see at least one Roth flick and after combing his filmography I settled on 2002's CABIN FEVER, it appearing the least unwatchable.

I didn't hate it.  In fact, the homages to numerous horror classics, namely THE EVIL DEAD, were more successful than expected.  Roth's debut as director is beyond competent, even skillful at times.  His script, co-written by Randy Pearlstein, puts the usual collegiates in peril formula through a contemporary sensibility, though had this film been made today you can bet some of the humor, especially the racial type, would be excised.

The comedy does sometimes work.  Sometimes.  There are numerous random bits to leaven the gore.  Such as that kid's out of left field kung fu moves before he bites someone.  And that really bonkers final scene involving a rifle in a general store.  It may have some social commentary within but mostly just exists to confuse viewers, to elicit the ever popular "WTF" response.  And to be honest, it and some of the other bizarre bits of humor don't help this movie. 

Oh, the plot? A group of college grads celebrate with a weekend at a cabin in the woods.  You have the cool guy, Jeff (Joey Kern), the shy guy, Paul (Rider Strong), and the dopey guy, Bert (James DeBello).  The women are represented by Marcy (Cerina Vincent), confident and sexy, and Karen (Jordan Ladd), seemingly shy and sexy.   I was annoyed with them at first (I guess we're supposed to be) but they grew on me.  Maybe not enough to care about their fates, which are prompted by a mysterious skin disease that gets passed around.

There are suspicious locals.  A weird vagrant.  A young cop (Guiseppe Andrews, strangely QT-like) who cares more about partying than solving crimes.  A few sex scenes.  Lots of blood.  Something sinister in the river.   Roth packages it well enough for this to rate a Saturday night impaired-or-otherwise viewing.  Curiously, his camera looks away from nasty stuff like a rabid dog being shot and earlier, when the pup tears someone apart.  There is sufficient intensity and involvement, but I think I prefer Roth on the other side of the camera. 

P.S. - THANKSGIVING was later made into an actual feature by Roth, in case you didn't know.