Director: Eli Roth
Starring: Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern, Giuseppe Andrews, Robert Harris, Hal Courtney

- Reviewed by Linda

You may ask, "What the f...??!?" and I would answer, "Exactly."

Cabin Fever is (according to the director) an homage to the teen horror flicks of the 1970s and 80s. Nubile young flesh rents a cabin alone in the woods, and all hell breaks loose. Speaking of young flesh, the "hell" of this movie happens to be a flesh-eating virus that is initially introduced when a rotting man staggers out of the forest and knocks on the door of the kids' cabin (which leads to a great line: "That guy asked for our help! We lit him on fire!").

Will they escape? Are the locals in on the secret of this weird disease that no one acknowledges? Is the strange deputy sherrif on their side, or is there something just not right about him? If you've seen any old school teen horror flicks, you don't need the answer to these questions.

I was surprised to find that Cabin Fever had its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival to great audience appreciation, and went on the festival circuit before opening in major theaters. Hmmm. This leads to the question: if the highbrow director didn't say Cabin Fever was an homage (with a wink and a nod), would Cabin Fever stand out as being any different from the original films? The film is so exaggeratingly wrong that it is funny (like the Evil Dead films) and thusly never invokes true fear or dread (like, say 28 Days Later). The cast, lead by an nice boy that goes unhinged (Rider Strong, who doesn't need to change his name to become a porn star), is young, attractive, and game for the inevitable gore. There are many good quotes, and just enough truly inexplicable bizarre-ness (see "Pancakes!") to amuse those who aren't, say, stoned or drunk while watching the film.

So, as a genre flick, Cabin Fever is fine for what it is, and will probably please fans of horror. It certainly isn't awful, and credit must be given to the filmmakers for not resorting to irony (see Scream) to carry their film. But it still is a splatter film... and let's just say that I'll never think of the verb "fingering" quite the same way again.

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