Release Date: September 12, 2003
Starring: Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, Joey Kern, Cerina Vincent, James DeBello
Directed by: Eli Roth
Written by: Eli Roth, Randy Pearlstein
Distributed by: Lions Gate Films
MPAA Rating: R (strong violence and gore, sexuality, language, brief drug use)
As anyone who has seen there share of movies will say, Cabin Fever, the debut feature from writer-director Eli Roth, sounds like a cross between parts of 28 Days Later (a deadly virus that liquefies your skin into a very anti-photogenic mush of pus and blood) and The Blair Witch Project (a bunch of kids -- city slickers, the lot of them -- who find themselves quickly and dangerously overwhelmed by the deep woods and the backwards locals). But just because a director has managed to cross two relatively popular movies -- you can imagine him wrapping the colored wires over each other, like that scene in every police movie where they call in the bomb squad to defuse something -- doesn't mean the result will be twice as spectacular. In fact, if anything, with high expectations, the disappointing results can be somewhat devastating.
There is the kernel of a good idea here, and watching Roth try to find it is frustrating; every time he seems to get hold of it, is slips from his grasp like a greased banana, and then we have to wait while he stumbles around in the dark for a while before things get mildly scary again. But he starts off well. His good idea is that there is a deadly, flesh-eating virus out in the woods somewhere, beyond the reach of civilization, and that anyone who comes into contact with it and the inevitable contagion will suddenly be reduced to using medieval methods of quarantine and protection.
The frustrating part is that our heroes/lambs-to-the-slaughter are five generic twentysomethings, your basic beautiful losers that turn up in movies like this. They don't even appear to be particularly bright, either -- the five of them have just graduated from college, although based on the colors of the foliage, they were in summer school, and they all seem to be at least 25 or 26, meaning they were apparently on the less-than-reputable seven-year plan of study. Why is it always the kids? One of the things that made 28 Days Later an interesting and frightening thriller was that there wasn't a teenager in a sight, even though the concept was practically begging to be turned into a teenage slasher picture. When the cast is made up of good-looking nobodies like those in Cabin Fever, the audience is disarmed of their good intentions; we suddenly want to see them die, and the sooner the better.
Roth doesn't waste much time; he has but 90 minutes for the whole show. Of the five -- ladies man Jeff (Joey Kern, reprising his role as Sweet Lou from Grind), his gorgeous girlfriend Marcy (Cerina Vincent), nice guy Paul (Rider Strong), his love interest Karen (Jordan Ladd), and beer-guzzling jerk Bert (James DeBello) -- Karen is the first to go, which is a shame, because she seems like the most interesting of the gang. She has an interest in photography, which you know because she carries a camera around for two scenes, and as far as characterization, this is more than can be said for the rest -- they just like sex, beer, and pot, and more or less in that order. As such it's not worth commenting on the actors much, because they mostly play substance consumers, not characters.
Karen dies of the skin-eating virus because a man who is infected with it stumbles into the camp, asking for help, but in the predictably ensuing melee, he is dispatched with a burning stick by Paul. Shortly thereafter, the five leads become infected themselves, and though the reason why remains a mystery until nearly the end of the film, their efforts to get help reveal Cabin Fever's central logic: treat a seemingly unimportant supporting character badly, and they will come back to hurt you when you need their help the most. On their way into the woods, for example, the group stops at a general store to pick up supplies for their weeklong camping trip. Bert tries to steal a Snickers bar but is caught, and after later becoming infected, the only person at hand is the same store clerk he tried to steal from earlier. Bad move, Bert.
The movie appears to be something of a study of the infamous "rules" of horror films, and especially those genre films set in the middle of nowhere. The first of these rules is that you must always be polite and courteous to the locals at all times, and must never lavish your showy city lifestyle in front of them. Within the first 10 minutes of the movie, all five members of the group find a way to break this cardinal rule, and if any of them escaped notice, mere association with the terribly offensive Bert gets them extra demerit points for good measure. But the movie is not quite campy or self-referential enough to allow for that excuse.
If not for the general store yokels, though, the movie's third act wouldn't be nearly as much fun as it is, with writer-director Roth ruining the genuine atmosphere of fear and delirium that he has built up by inventing elaborate excuses for the locals not to help our heroes. Although Cabin Fever initially appears to be targeted at the 18-to-25 age group, on second thought it seems best suited for city-bred viewers, who can comfortably scoff at the plaid-loving, bad-guy hicks from the comfort of their suburban multiplexes.
There is the requisite open ending, and since Cabin Fever has all the earmarks of a cult hit, there is a reasonably possibility for a number of sequels. Or even a prequel, because one of the big-enough-to-drive-a-truck-through holes in the story is where this mysterious flesh-eating disease came from in the first place -- how did the hermit who gave it to Karen and everyone else get it? But this is the least of the movie's worries, and anyone who goes to see it anyway won't be interested in logic. Just the visceral pleasure of watching a bunch of half-mangled college grads tear themselves apart because of their own stupidity.
-- Craig Roush (crr225@nyu.edu)