Cabin Fever (DVD)

A horror film titled Cabin Fever, it actually sounds quite promising, perhaps a group of American teens forced to lock themselves up in a wooden shack to get away from the crazy killer that awaits them in the woods? Well, that would have been a lovely way for the film to go (in a purely horror genre sense) but instead I wish I hadn't sat down to watch Cabin Fever, because had I known there was no physical killer it probably would have put me off instantly. Cabin Fever premiered on Channel 4 last night and I feel sorry for anyone else, that like me, actually sat through the thing. 2002's Cabin Fever opening credits are very plain, and the music only slowly ...  Read the complete review

Five teenagers, having just graduated, rent a cabin in the woods and look forward to enjoying a peaceful holiday. That quickly begins to look unlikely when one of them bumps into a stranger in the woods and shoots at him. He returns to the cabin later on and begs for help, obviously having picked up a horrible skin disease. When they refuse to help him, he tries to steal their transport, and eventually dies at their hands. Then one of the girls shows signs of having caught the disease and quickly goes downhill. When the others ask the locals for help, they get a little more than they bargained for. Will any of them leave the woods alive? I haven't heard of any ...  Read the complete review

Five teenagers break up from high school and take off to the woods for a vacation. Stopping only to stock up on food and drink, they make their way straight to an isolated log cabin where they revel in the solitude and new found freedom. Whilst the two couples spend some time getting a bit closer, the fifth member of the group, Bert, takes off into the woods with a shotgun and a serious intent to shoot some squirrels. His aim is pretty awful, but whilst he fails to bag himself any rodents he is horrified when a stray shot hits a man. As the man rises from the floor, it is obvious that there is clearly something wrong with him. His face is covered in blood, he can hardly ...  Read the complete review

Cabin Fever is Eli Roth's film debut, and I wish he'd never bothered. It's truly dire in almost every single way. This pitiful excuse for a horror film seems to aim to disgust rather than scare its viewers, a trend Roth would continue to pursue with his Hostel films. The plot is no more complex than your simple 'teenagers go to a cabin in the woods and bad stuff happens' archetype; this would be forgiveable if the film brought something new to the genre. It does not. The characters are all loathsome, the directing is bland, the story is dull. I found it impossible to care about what was going on beyond vaguely hoping that the flesh-eating virus ...  Read the complete review

Film only review Before Eli Roth grossed us all out with Hostel he gave us Cabin Fever. Released on DVD in 2002 the story follows a group of friends as they spend a weekend away in a cabin in the woods wanting to party and have a good time. One of the party comes down sick with a strange illness which spreads quickly and results in the group of friends having to fight to stay alive as they become infected with the unknown illness. Featuring a cast of relatively unknown actors the five main characters carry the film well, the acting is pretty much of a standard quality for the film of this genre and although none of them would win an Oscar they are ...  Read the complete review