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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
What says b better then Shawn Hunter from Boy Meets World as the star?, October 26, 2008
Cabin Fever is somewhat of a cult classic that has been floating around since 2003. With the amount of b horror we've seen over the years it may be suprising we haven't checked this one out. Undeniably it has b potential all over it, especially when you have Rider Strong and Cerina Vincent as 2 of the key roles. Cerina is a joy to look at but couldn't act her way out of a paper bag. She was definately thrown in there to keep your attention as she does in about 100 other b horrors. This film is also an early work of rising writer/director Eli Roth which lets you know it's going to be a very over the top gorefest, which we usually aren't crazy about, but figured it works well being the Halloween time of year. Since it was on tv why not go for it?
The film starts off with a group of college grads who are looking for one last getaway before they enter the working world. Paul(Rider Strong), Karen, Bert, Marcy(Cerina), and Jeff head out to a remote cabin in the woods to kick off the party. They get a nice bonfire going and start to tell a very b story about a murderer who wacked a bunch of people then bowled with their bodyparts when they are interrupted by Eli Roth who makes a brief cameo. He is a total freak and only gets offered to chill once they find out he has a giant bag of doobage (oh yeah!). It's about the rain and he says he has to run to his tent real quick and will be back to smoke them out in about a half hour. As they eagerly await his return inside they get a knock at the door. Once they open it they are greeted by Harry the Hermit whose skin is falling off while he begs for help. The juice machine Bert freaks out shutting the door saying no way to letting him in for fear they will get whatever he's got. Since they don't let him in Harry the Hermit jumps in the car and tries to steal it. So whats the only logical thing to do? Jump out of the cabin with a golf club, bat, and shot gun and tear apart your own car (1 star earned). It was one of the most bizzare scenes but very hilarious. So as they freak telling Harry to get out he starts puking up blood all over the car. They finally get him out and somehow set him on fire where he goes running off into the woods. Oh the laughs were plentiful!
The following day 2 of the guys decide to find a mechanic since they trashed their own car. They are unsuccesful but do get a visit from an officer who was checking out the place after getting a disturbance call. For some reason he shows up the next day instead of when he gets the call but hey it's b. This cop is a total loser and is obsessed with partying. Paul tells the cop their car was attacked by a crazy homeless guy and thats it. The cop ignores the fact that the entire car is covered in bloood and the investigation ends with the cop saying he'll come back to party with them. Now that the cops gone the good times roll once Karen starts showing strange signs of being sick. It starts off with a crazy looking flesh eating rash on her leg which makes everyone freak out. And being the great friends they are they make her stay out in the shed so they don't become infected. From here on out the remaining crew does everything they can to stay healthy and work hard on getting the car fixed to get Karen to a doctor. By time they get the car running Bert takes off once he shows signs of the virus. He drives to a general store and becomes part of on of the top 5 strangest scenes we have ever scene. Some kid on a bench sees him and screams "PANCAKES!" over and over again then starts doing karate moves as he approaches. Once he gets up to Bert he bites his hand. No sure what any of this meant but it was very entertaining yet disturbing all at once. Bert then becomes hunted by some local hicks who fear he may spread the virus and wind up taking him out. One by one the rest bite the dust. It was all because the guy they set on fire jumped into a lake where he died contaminating the water supply. This then spread it throughout the group and appeared that it would affect the rest of the town after some kids have do a lemonade stand with water from the lake.
Cabin Fever really lacked in many departments but was a fun watch from a b standpoint. The acting is some of the worst we've seen in a more mainstream film. You really don't feel bad for the characters except the chick they dump in the shed. The rest of the film is filled with laughs and confusion. We can't give this one a strong recommendation but will say it may be worth it for some laughs. If you're a gore lover you should really like this one.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Redefining the genre? No, but a treat for horror buffs., January 28, 2004
One of the things that makes Cabin Fever a genuinely fun outing for horror fans is the cast and crew's obvious enthusiasm for what they're doing. Even without viewing the entertaining (if rather short on substance) "Making of" featurette, you can easily tell that the film was a labor of love with a game cast. While the extras don't shed much light on the film's progress from unsellable script to most-hyped horror film of 2003-- which would undoubtedly have made for a fascinating story-- the movie is (almost) enough of a delight to make up for it.Cabin Fever takes pretty much every convention of "classic" drive-in horror films of the 70's, and manages to make them look new again. Curmudgeons may say that it's nothing more than a Scream-esque parody of horror movie chestnuts, but the approach is really quite different. Instead of self-conscious winks to the audience, the walking cliches of Cabin Fever seem to enjoy playing their roles to the hilt, with performances that are as much tribute as spoof. One of the most entertaining aspects of the film is that the lead characters, each a counterpart of a 70's-horror staple, are almost uniformly unlikable. Instead of counting on us to hope that the smug hipster, the ice queen, and the obnoxious jock manage to escape the killer's clutches, we can finally enjoy seeing them get what we thought they deserved all along. I mean, did anyone REALLY identify with any of those too-good-to-be-true high school superstars? Cabin Fever won't have you leaving the nightlight on, although it does boast some solid shocks. It might be a bit of a letdown for fans of gore, but for my part I'm thankful that the more intensely violent moments were off-camera. Otherwise it might have been too dificult to watch. The most striking thing about the film is its big-budget look. The directing is confident, the performances are strong, the effects are convincing, and the photography is excellent (unlike most of its ancestors). The DVD transfer's color is glorious, and the sound really fills a room. It belies its independent origins every step of the way, right down to the Angelo Badalamenti score (the composer's hilarious account of his involvement with the film is one of the featurette's high points). In most ways, the pricey DVD release doesn't disappoint. Most highly recommended to horror fans with a sense of humor. Note: the DVD also includes several short claymation features by director Roth that star a fruitbasket of British rockers who spend most of their time causing mayhem and squirting their own juices over everything in sight. A pleasant enough addition, but they aren't really anything to get excited about. Other features include the clever-yet-useless "Chickvision" option, and a short called "Pancakes" that shows just how much fun the creators were having with their project. Although when the subject grows up, he just might sue them for defamation of character.... The five(!) commentary tracks could probably have been boiled down into just one or two, but their easygoing tone adds to feeling of good-natured fun that went into the production.
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
NOT an effective homage, not scary, not funny, don't bother, January 27, 2004
By A Customer
My review title really says it all. With the exception of strong performances by Rider Strong, Cerina Vincent and Guisseppe Andrews, Cabin Fever is a resounding failure - both critically, as even enjoyable jaw-clenching horror fare and as a successful homage. The term "homage" (I'll be tempted to contract a flesh-eating virus myself if I have to hear this word ONE MORE TIME) is dreadfully overused here - by the DVD's director, the cast, the producers and everyone seemingly involved with this drek. Done well, a film homage successfully captures the styles of a genre and the creative sensibilities of people associated with a particular film or films and combines it with a unique sense of a filmmaker's vision. Done poorly - as in the case of "Cabin Fever" - and "homage" can be synonymous with a total absence of originality and an inability to blend someone else's style with your own. That's what happens here and unfortunately it just goes on and on and on. Writer/Director Roth has no particular vision or style of his OWN to bring to the homage party - no real grasp on what he wanted HIS film - homage or not - to be stylistically by the last reel. Neither particularly scary, nor funny, "Cabin Fever's" greatest weakness is, in this age of increasingly sophisticated movie-going audiences, its mess of a storyline. The overall concept is painfully simple and fine actually as far as the genre goes - but Roth manages to overcomplicate things - forgoing building real tension and jeopardy through character development (I mean - seriously - that's all that's left with these rehashes that can make them even remotely fresh, right?) his characters in lieu of throwing in one too many go-nowhere B-stories and horror-film-of-yore references, leaving the characters with nothing to do but stumble from disjointed scene to disjointed scene vomiting blood. As mentioned earlier, Strong, Vincent and Andrews (who's underused) do manage solid performances despite having far little to work with. The DVD's self-congratulatory tone and over-reliance on genre-dropping references (as if to dissuade the passionate horror viewer that they really, really did see something special) are maddening. For all of his passion - and so-called experiences making home-made horror movies, Roth shows a stunning lack of comprehensive ability...especially perplexing since he bemoans the near demise of good horror films in the early 1990's. Hmm...Mr. Roth...ever think that it was this kind of careless filmmaking that was the cause? Just a thought. It appears Roth's passion for horror films has outstripped his ability to effectively make them and despite his luck at being let loose in a movie-making candy store (just who financed this thing and approved him as director, I ask?!!), what he really needs is a good screenwriting class and more time - much more time - with his dad's video camera.
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