I avoided Cabin Fever like (ahem) the plague for months, until I was unexpectantly shown it one bleary Saturday night. My preconceptions held true to an extent- the film is hugely derivative and genuinely unscary- but about an hour through something hit me. Eli Roth could become a true master.
Cabin Fever's "plot" is pretty much inconsequential. Basically, it revolves around a group of teens who travel into the woods (via a strange yokel shop) and get infected by a fatal virus. So far so '80s right? Yes, to a degree. However, how Roth uses this plot in the second half makes for compulsive viewing.
It is true, the first half of Cabin Fever is inexplicably awful. The acting is dire, the dialogue and pacing even worse, and despite a few, rather obvious jumps, deeply unfrightening. I've been thinking that if perhaps Roth made the characters a little more vulgar and self-indulgent, then he could have easily twisted the second half into a pitch black comedy. I even thought for a minute, due to Roth being a protege of, of all people, David Lynch, he could be making the first half of this film deliberately banal (a la Blue Velvet) to create a massive contrast to what was about to happen. Then on reflection, I think I give Roth too much credit.
If you can tolerate the film's first half, you will be richly rewarded however. The second half is jam packed with numerous great moments, including the most memorable bathroom scene since Fatal Attraction (involving a razor) and some terrific scares. Roth throws it all away again though, for a disastrously unfunny ending which smacks of self-indulgence and time constraints.
What we have here is a promising, if massively uneven, schlock fest which just about clinches the status of "memorable". If Roth hones his script writing technique and is more stringent in the auditioning process, he could be untouchable.
Cabin Fever's "plot" is pretty much inconsequential. Basically, it revolves around a group of teens who travel into the woods (via a strange yokel shop) and get infected by a fatal virus. So far so '80s right? Yes, to a degree. However, how Roth uses this plot in the second half makes for compulsive viewing.
It is true, the first half of Cabin Fever is inexplicably awful. The acting is dire, the dialogue and pacing even worse, and despite a few, rather obvious jumps, deeply unfrightening. I've been thinking that if perhaps Roth made the characters a little more vulgar and self-indulgent, then he could have easily twisted the second half into a pitch black comedy. I even thought for a minute, due to Roth being a protege of, of all people, David Lynch, he could be making the first half of this film deliberately banal (a la Blue Velvet) to create a massive contrast to what was about to happen. Then on reflection, I think I give Roth too much credit.
If you can tolerate the film's first half, you will be richly rewarded however. The second half is jam packed with numerous great moments, including the most memorable bathroom scene since Fatal Attraction (involving a razor) and some terrific scares. Roth throws it all away again though, for a disastrously unfunny ending which smacks of self-indulgence and time constraints.
What we have here is a promising, if massively uneven, schlock fest which just about clinches the status of "memorable". If Roth hones his script writing technique and is more stringent in the auditioning process, he could be untouchable.