Cabin Fever - 9/12/03

Written by: Eli Roth (story & screenplay) & Randy Pearlstein

Starring: Jordan Ladd, Rider Strong, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern

Official Site

Got to the earliest showing I could today, on opening day. I've heard about this movie for months. Internet movie sites have been pumping this film up, just as The Blair Witch Project was, though the two films were not marketed the same. Let me make that distinction, because it's important. Blair Witch was marketed as based on real life... and people really caught the bug, and wanted to see what all the hubbub was about. This was marketed as the next big thing to come out of independent film, in the horror genre anyway...

This movie has been on the lips of internet sites because it's another low budget horror film, in the vein of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Night of the Living Dead and, of course, Evil Dead. People get excited about films like this, because the writer/director has to rely on his talent, and not his budget, to get his vision across. Now, this can, of course, be hit or miss... but with so much positive buzz, and the fact that Eli Roth was an assistant to David Lynch for the last six years... I figured I would give him a chance, regardless of what reviews I might read.

First off, I had seen some trailers that gave away a little too much of the films gore scenes. That was too bad, because I was waiting for some effects that were going to top the trailer. There were none. Ok, no big deal.

Someone had mentioned that this was Evil Dead meets Deliverance. I don't really see it that way, although this film is certainly a homage to Evil Dead, parts 1 and 2, there's no denying that. In fact, there are lots of similarities. They don't get in the way of enjoying the film... meaning, you don't see them as direct lifts... but there are points that are almost the same.

One of the things I noticed was that there wasn't really much of a directing style. There were some ok scenes, and some of the editing was well done... though I'll touch upon that in a moment. What I mean is, each shot was economical, so that it achieved its purpose. The film moved along at a solid pace... but, comparing it to Evil Dead again, Sam Raimi not only did a great job with the story, characters and plot... but there are some of the most inventive camera techniques in Evil Dead... I figured that we would have some more style brought to this picture, seeing as how Roth had so much material to use as inspiration.

Back to the editing, there are moments when we see flashes into the future. I wasn't sure why he used this technique, because it really didn't add to the story, or to help propel the film along. It was almost as if he wanted something flashy and contemporary in the film (since he didn't have a huge budget), to make it that much more 'cool'. There wasn't enough of it, that I thought it got in the way... I just didn't see why he did it at all.

Jordan Ladd, Rider Strong and Cerina Vincent were all excellent with their characters. I thought that Joey Kern and James DeBello weren't as strong in the beginning. DeBello started to get his act together later in the film, when he wasn't interacting with the other actors. Kern, I just didn't like his performance very much.

I thought that the deputy, Giuseppe Andrews, was probably the strangest of all the characters. I was trying to get a handle on why his personality was the way it was. It just didn't gel with the rest of the film.

The effects were top notch, and I would expect nothing less from Kurtzman, Nicotero and Berger. These men are effects geniuses, and have worked on some of the biggest Hollywood films in the last twenty years. Kurtzman's resume reads like a dream come true for an effects man, it's unreal.

Angelo Badalamenti provided some of the musical score, along with Nathan Barr. Both did a good job in propelling the film along, and enhancing all of the suspensful parts of the film with their scores.

There were moments in the film that just didn't make sense to me. They didn't really help the story, and left me thinking "What the hell was that for?" Particularly the ending. It's funny and all, but from left field.

Here are some spoilers, so keep that in mind:

What was in the box that the large, bald country guy was holding? Was that an integral part of the story? Was it the antidote to the virus? Was there a gun in there? If so, why was it shut and, I guess, locked?

What was the bunny doing in the hospital? Was that the kids ward? Was that just Paul's imagination?

What was the point of the kid who bit people? His only real point was so that he would get infected later on, to force his father and the other two country guys to go chase Bert. I don't like it when we're given characters that are just excuses for plot points.

End spoilers

Overall, this was an entertaining movie, but I was expecting more. It's fun, it's interesting, it's got great effects and a lot of potential. I enjoyed 28 Days Later... much more than this, though. Roth has another film in the works... he's become a hot commodity after there was a large bidding war for this film... so I hope his next film will have a little more directing style. His writing is relatively tight. This story was well written, the dialog is well done, the characters are fleshed out pretty well, and the pace was great.

I would have hoped that Roth and Pearlstein (his first script as well) would have gotten some help from someone who might have said "Is this necessary?" or, "Couldn't this be resolved in a different way?" But, this is how we learn, so I'm not going to get too down on Roth and Pearlstein. Again, they gave us a great story, and a decent film.

I would recommend seeing this film in the theaters for two reasons. One, you're a fan of horror films. Two, you're a supporter of independent filmmaking. Lion's Gate has been doing some incredible work over the years, distributing films that are edgy and not commercial crap for the masses. They've taken chances on films such as House of 1000 Corpses, Frailty, Ginger Snaps and Wonderland, just to name a short few. I respect them for taking chances on people who are seeing out their visions, as Roth did.