31 Days of Horror 2: Cabin Fever

October 2, 2009: Cabin Fever
Here is Cabin Fever, the movie that got Eli Roth (Director of Hostel) started in his horror film career and it’s also the only movie that I’ve liked out of his so far.
The movie is about five college friends, Jeff (Joey Kern), Karen (Jordan Ladd), Paul (Rider Strong), Marcy (Cerina Vincent) and Bert (James DeBello), heading off for a weekend of partying at a cabin in the woods. Things start to go wrong when a blood-soaked hermit finds his way to their campfire one night, who is clearly infected with some sort of flesh-eating virus. This virus soon spreads to the five friends, causing them to slowly be eaten away and hostility to grow between them.
If you thought that was bad, once the locals learn about the infected college kids they pose another danger to the group.
Yes, I liked Cabin Fever and I liked it because it plays homage to the classic ’70’s and ‘80’s horror movies. It does this by playing on the genre’s conventions; it doesn’t reinvent any of these, which isn’t a bad thing and is what caused me to like it.
The movie is light on the scares but heavy on the gore, which I usually hate but it works well for the specific subject matter this movie is exploring (flesh eating virus).
Cabin Fever becomes more of a black comedy in the end with a showcase of gory scenes, which made some people not like it. Yet, in my opinion the mixture of gore and laughs really makes for a decent horror film that succeeds on taking from the old and making it new again.
This movie is much better, in my opinion, than Roth’s Hostel and Hostel part II (I just don’t get into the torture horror films). I wish he would make another movie similar to this one, it could be great.
If you haven’t seen Cabin Fever I will warn you now that it does have some parts they might make you cringe. There is a specific scene in a bathroom, which I thought was the movie’s best and most disturbing scene and I guarantee it will creep you out.
Everyone who is a fan of horror movies or just wants to watch a scary movie should give this one a try.