CABIN FEVER review

I could’ve sworn I wrote a review of CABIN FEVER like a year ago, but as adamkesh in AICN’s Chat noted… I never did.

What’s the point?

I mean, it is pretty evident that I’m a friend of Eli Roth’s… That I like CABIN FEVER quite a lot, but the reason is… I don’t know, because it was requested and I figure I owe y’all a review of the film.

The first time I saw CABIN FEVER was at the Sitges International Film Festival… the greatest damn film festival in the world. They play a zillion genre films, from all over the globe. Great stuff. I was serving on the jury there as an official judge.

When I finally got to see it, it was in this gigantic theater… seats like 1700 folks all on one level. The screen was bigger than any of the drive-in screens I ever went to as a child, and the sound system in this place would rock the nipples off a statue of Mary. I mean this theater ruled.

The audience was nearly entirely Catalonian and Spanish. So the print I saw had two digital subtitles on these electrical read out things below the screen running the entire time. Eli, was sitting two rows behind me and nervous as hell. He was worried that the film had been oversold to me. That the comparisons to EVIL DEAD and Romero’s films had set my expectations for something far better than what he had made.

In a way, that was true. I was expecting a serious ass-kicking horror film, and the first 30 minutes or so… well, the beginning of this film does not… in any way… feel like a serious ass-kicking horror film.

Instead, the beginning is a dead on homage to the feeling of those college vacation sex flicks of the late seventies and early Eighties. Some people think it is a spoof on the teen horror flicks, but that’s not right at all. Rider “Ken Doll” Strong is playing that guy that’s dedicated a long time trying to get into oh so tight pants of Jordan Ladd’s Karen. He’s that type of guy that’s technique is to be the best friend, that is always there, until she really needs him and the walls of Jericho fall and he gets to take the relationship up to the next level. They’re that best friend couple that everyone gossips about them getting married after school. They’re also the ones that never seem to party.

Then you have the exact opposite couple. Joey “jock” Kern and Cerina “Fuck me Bloody” Vincent. This couple have discovered that sex kicks ass, getting drunk kicks ass and that getting drunk and having sex kicks ass too. They also understand that it really doesn’t matter who knows this. They are young and are addicted to sensations and experimentation. They’re open in all the ways that “Ken & Barbie” aren’t.

Then there is James DeBello’s Bert. Bert is my friend Roland. He’s the one that would take a pellet rifle out into the woods with two six packs of beer and shoot Squirrels cuz they are gay. Except, I think my friend Roland would have shotguns for that deal, cuz… the sight of squirrel getting hit with a pellet is cool, but the sight of a squirrel exploding in a burst of fur as they get hit by a shotgun blast… it’s like fireworks, but wet. Bert is that friend that always is in a different movie. He’s the one that’s aware of the soundtrack, if you get my meaning.

OK – that’s the surface level look at the characters. They are thinly drawn stereotypes meant to quickly associate with in the… “Oh they’re like my friends Gordon & Kim… They’re like my friends Jed & Christy… and that’s Roland!” -kinda way.

Director Eli Roth does play with these scenarios… takes the Teen Sex Comedy genre and begins to take it into the realm of… Serious Fucking Horror.

If you want to know why these characters are so fucking dumb at the beginning of this thing, it’s because they don’t belong in a horror film. You see, these characters are supposed to be playing according to the rules of a Teen Sex Comedy. Bert and Jeff are drinking nothing but Alcohol all weekend long. Marcy is supposed to fuck everyone including both Paul and Karen in separate events. Paul and Karen are supposed to fight about that, but have a kiss and make-up tender sex scene. Jeff is pissed that his girlfriend fucked everyone and left with the guy living in the cave with all the grass… and he’s telling all this to Bert in an alcohol death roll that ends up with them having sex, liking it, and coming out as a couple. That’s the movie these characters were signed on for.

When bloody horror disease man shows up on their doorstep… he represents the Horror film knocking on the door of the Teen Sex Comedy film. Horror is insistent. He’s not going to go away. The Teen Sex Comedy folks are playing by the Frat rules of meeting any difficulty with physical violence, cuz we’ll just end up with cuts and bruises and be ok in the morning sort of rules. BUT – as soon as they step out of that cabin door to deal with bloody horror disease man… They’ve formally crossed over into THE HORROR FILM.

At this point, the characters are fucked. According to the rules of the Horror film, any character with a sin is gonna get fucked up, and these are Teen Sex Comedy characters… they all deserve to get it. NOW… this is where things got interesting to me.

Watching characters that are quite obviously not meant to be in a horror film, react to a horror film scenario… I found that fascinating.

As you watch everything they were decay and fall apart… you realize that these poor kids didn’t walk into any just run of the mill Slasher film, they’ve stumbled into vintage Cronenberg / Romero style horror. This is the type of horror film where a killer isn’t gonna hack you up, but you’ll find yourself being torn apart slowly… Your own physicality disintegrating. And as we get to these scenes… much like the cast of GALAXY QUEST, when they realize that this is no longer TV, but reality… and that you can and will die in this universe… The characters take it seriously.

Now… Cerina Vincent’s super slut MARCY – she’s the one that can’t make the adjustment. She still wants to be sexy… still wants to fuck… still wants to party, even as the reality is right there in the mirror. She doesn’t want to face it, doesn’t want to be in this movie any more. Doesn’t want to be in this Cabin in these fucking woods. Where’s the goddamn football team to fuck?

Joey Kern’s Jeff realizes the situation. He comes to like a man strapped in an electric chair. He knows that this is a horror film. His big brother or something told him this genre existed. He knows what is at stake and wants NO PART OF IT, so his decision is to just leave the movie. Take the beer and get away from these people and this thing and just find some place in the woods to get drunk. He figures if he just walks away from the Horror film and abides by his Teen Sex Comedy rules, he’ll just wait this Horror film out till they’re all dead and the horror is over. Good plan.

James DeBello’s Bert – He’s the tragedy here. He’s the comedy sidekick character that realizes the joke isn’t funny anymore. In many ways, I think he has the best part. His desperate run for help, what he finds there… The film he opens this up to… It is really good work here by James.

Now Rider Strong and Jordan Ladd… They both represent innocence corrupted and perverted. Jordan in the sense of beauty destroyed… and Rider from the point of view of the boy scout virgin turned diseased murderous sex offender.

That’s the joy I find in CABIN FEVER. The idea of taking one genre and completely unleashing horror on it’s innocuous little happy ass. That is what Eli Roth did with this film. All the other characters… they’re Teen Sex Comedy characters… The Deputy that is always searching for the party. The crazed kung fu Pancake exclaiming kid that’d bite your masturbation hand. The cantankerous old general store coot. The sheriff that doesn’t appreciate these kids and what they’ve brought to this community – essentially… the sheriff and the kung fu kid’s Dad… they’re both the obnoxious Authority figures of old… like an old Nancy Parsons or John Vernon or Ted Knight type from the vintage days of Sex Comedies. They haven’t fully been enveloped into the world of the horror film yet, but that’s only because by the end of this film… the horror is just getting started.

PERSONALLY – I would love to see a sequel – that picks up at the local college, the bad frat looking at being taken down as COLLEGE FEVER breaks. Only the worst frat on campus would survive. It would turn the whole thing on its ear again.

NOW – this film will piss a lot of genre nuts off. It isn’t a straight horror film. In fact, most of the characters belong in the Sex Comedy Genre, and if you hate Sex Comedy Genres… well, this film could ride you wrong, but frankly… if you’re a multi-genre faceted fool like me, that appreciates and loves the perversion of sacred genre borders, then you should get a blast out of this thing. I have noticed it tends to divide horror fans much like FROM DUSK TILL DAWN did... where folks prefer the second half over the first and vice versa -- with another segment that just loves it all. Me, I love it all.

What would I like to see Eli Roth learn from this experience and film? I’d love to see him mature from this film or get immature. I’d love to see him do either a balls to the wall Sex Comedy… or a hot and heavy serious as Carpenter’s THE THING style horror. He’s got it in him. He’s also got a fine appreciation for many other genres… he’s the person that recommended and made sure I saw SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE – so he gets the hardcore crime genre as well. This is a first film, filled with all the excitement of… “Look at me and my first movie” type of mistakes and enthusiasm. However, it is also a really fun movie. Is it a classic? I don’t know, a lot of that will depend on where Eli Roth goes from here as a director.

Take Peter Jackson’s BAD TASTE. On many levels a pretty funky flick. It has become a classic, because it defines the birth of a director that has become incredibly significant in the world of cinema today. As Eli’s career continues, I feel a lot of the legacy and genre history of CABIN FEVER will rely on where he goes as a filmmaker.

For now, CABIN FEVER is a very fun film. One that has held up under multiple showings and comes up in conversation all the time. I don’t think it’s the best horror film released this year, I think that, so far, goes to either THE EYE or MAY, but in many ways, this film is better for the horror genre because I feel it is commercial, but also the heaviest R in terms of beloved vintage horror ideals. KNB’s make up is exemplary – the reason I fought to make sure this film got the Make-up award at Sitges and I’m quite fond of the score by Angelo Badalamenti and Nathan Barr. It was also very nicely shot by Scott Kevan, who did 2nd Assistant Camera work on the underrated PHANTASM III: LORD OF THE DEAD!

I've seen the film 3 times now and laugh every time, and the leg shaving scene, fingering scene, doggy scene, shed scene and assault on the cabin scene all maintain their power without losing an ounce.