Post by StevePulaski on Feb 16, 2014 12:00:25 GMT -5
Cabin Fever (2002)
Directed by: Eli Roth
Directed by: Eli Roth
Two of the friends in Cabin Fever.
Rating: ★★½
One has to commend Eli Roth for giving the horror genre a decent revival, yet one has to blame him for bringing back tired old horror cliches. Despite being a little choppy and somewhat inconsistent, Cabin Fever is a tolerable and efficient horror film that will satisfy gorehounds and will please most fans of the genre. The only thing I wish is that it would've left me with a more positive reaction.
The plot is an exercise in typical horror filmmaking; five College kids go out in the middle of the woods, to stay at a cabin to hold a post-exam party. Upon their arrival, they are greeted with a sickly man who is covered in blood and boils, who they accidentally burn while trying to defend themselves from his disease. It turns out, he leaves behind a deadly flesh-eating virus that soon consumes the College kids one by one.
All the typical stereotypes are covered; the everyman (Strong), the everyman's love interest (Ladd), the loudmouth drunk (DeBello), the seemingly metrosexual germaphobe (Kern), and the busty brunette (Vincent). It's hard to like really any of them since we are not acquainted with them long enough before the madness unfolds. The most likable character of them all was definitely Deputy Winston, played by avant-garde actor/musician Giuseppe Andrews, who is hellbent on heavy drinking and partying.
While Cabin Fever sort of phones in the characters, we can still say the film has a lot of other things going for it. For one thing, the cinematography is fantastic. The woods is one setting I'll never tire from, despite its presence in so many horror films. Living near a wooded area, I love going in there, as long as it's broad daylight. After dark, you couldn't force me in there. The woods is such a calm place in the afternoon, but it's a whole different character at night. Cabin Fever makes a good note of that. During the day, the woods is light, soft, and easy on the eyes. During the night, it's ominous, frightening, and occupies a feeling of dread. The soft music, combined with the elegant scenery works quite well in its favor.
All the gore effects are done with fake blood, and no CGI, from what I can tell, was used. There are two things I believe horror strongly lacks today; suspense and realistic effects. Now, horror films are made quickly, and most of the demanding work, like gore effects, are done in post-production. It's most likely because its less demanding to just do it on the computer than it is to get messy in some fake blood. Practical effects are a lot more efficient because it shows a sign of realism and modesty, in a good way. As for suspense, the film accomplishes that pretty well too. Especially during the third act which becomes almost a cat and mouse game.
Eli Roth has made sort of molded Cabin Fever into two things; a satire and an homage. A satire on the clumsy characters we see in horror films, and an homage to some of his favorite movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The film isn't perfect, but it has a heart and pays, at least, some attention to things mostly forgotten in a horror films today. Ultimately, it sort of contradicts itself by giving us cliche characters at the same time subtly boasting the message "horror is dying," and the film sometimes seems indecisive which route to take. With a tighter script, Roth would've been able to do a lot of good with Cabin Fever, but the result is only average.
NOTE: The film does offer one of the more surprising endings in a long time. I too commend Roth for not ending on a cheap cliffhanger.
Starring: Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern, Arie Verveen, and Giuseppe Andrews. Directed by: Eli Roth.