Cabin Fever (Special Edition, 2 DVDs)

This film is for people who don't take movies too seriously, if you are able to have a laugh you could really enjoy this film. I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it before, it's not the goriest or scariest of films but its worth a watch.

think of a silly frat boy comedy, and throw buckets of blood over it - and you are close...
if you are looking for a follow-on from the Eli Roth original (as I was), you won't find it here.
Abysmal.

Cabin Fever is the directing debut of Eli Rothi, who also co-writes and co-produces. It stars Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern & Jeff Hoffman. Plot sees a group of young college graduates rent a cabin out in the woods for party weekend but start to fall victim to a flesh eating virus.

Eli Roth has never been shy in coming forward, happy to be a self publicist and megaphone for hyperbole, he made some bold statements in the run up to the release of Cabin Fever. He had been bemoaning the lack of gore and nastiness in the current crop of horror film's, even venturing that horror should get back to the 80's style of The Evil Dead et al. With that in mind, Cabin Fever is a little disappointing in that it's not as outrageous as expected, but it's a nice touch having a virus as the cause for the horror, even if in reality the structure is cribbed from other more notable back-to-the-woods horror film's. However, where he does score bonus points is that his "fever" is double ended, it's not just the virus as a fever motif at work, but the fever of the group as well, their reactions to the infected and their fear of the disease itself. This allows Roth to slide in some grue and nudity as he dabbles in interesting fates for his characters.

Roth would make good on his "more blood " promise with his follow up to Cabin Fever, Hostel, and then top that with that film's sequel. It seems that Cabin Fever, with its modest budget, was merely the stepping stone that he needed. It made over $30 million in profit Worldwide, proof if ever it was needed, that horror is always a big money earner if done right. Cabin Fever did not live up to initial expectations, but it's still a bloody gooey good time for the discerning horror faithful. 6.5/10