Remember a time when horror movies didn’t have any CGI? Remember
a time when it wasn’t safe for college students to venture into
the woods? Eli Roth sure does.
Of all the new faces in the horror genre, including
Dog Soldiers creator Neil Marshall and 28 Days Later’s Danny Boyle, Eli Roth
is the one being discussed most feverishly (pardon the pun) by horror fans.
Cabin Fever, his first feature film as writer and director, is creating a
stir in horror circles by putting a decidedly contemporary spin on an old
horror staple.
Sure, the setup and characters sound as if they’ve
just walked out of the Horror Cliché Cupboard. Five college students head
up to a remote cabin retreat deep in the woods to celebrate finishing their
exams. They plan on doing what any stupid kids in any horror flick have ever
done: drinking, smoking pot, having sex, and generally being loud. The group
consist of Paul (the improbably named Rider Strong), the requisite nice guy;
Karen (Jordan Ladd), the cute girl-next-door Paul has a crush on; Jeff (Joey
Kern), the narcissistic pretty boy who looks somewhat like a blonde Johnny
Depp; his girlfriend and obligatory purveyor of nudity, Marcy (Cerina Vincent);
and finally the big, dumb ox/comic relief, Bert (James DeBello).
Yet Roth and his co-writer Randy Pearlstein alter the
formula slightly by introducing not a killer, psycho or supernatural force,
but rather a flesh-eating virus, delivered to the cabin via a diseased vagrant.
And in a world where mad-cow disease, AIDS, SARS and biological warfare have
been at the forefront of public consciousness, it is an appropriate villain
for a horror film.
Obviously, once the danger is introduced, things go
from bad to disastrous. I’ll refrain from providing any mention of what happens
next, because half the fun of the film is in the unveiling of each new turning
point, as Roth and Pearlstein continually bury the quintet in progressively
worse situations. The plotting is blackly humorous as it twists and turns
around all five characters until they are hopelessly entwined. The mean-spirited
streak invokes the tone of doom and anxiety present in many of the horror
films of the ‘70s, and a reference to Wes Craven’s controversially cringe-inducing
Last House on the Left gives an indication of Roth’s intent.
Despite the relatively low-budget origins of the film,
it is a high-quality production from start to finish. Roth’s direction is
assured and the gore effects are convincingly grisly. The cast acquit themselves
admirably, with Strong especially providing an empathetic lead driven to
increasingly rash (no more puns, I promise) and desperate ends.
Like the contagion in Carpenter’s seminal The Thing,
part of the excitement in Cabin Fever is not knowing who is infected. However,
it fails to reach the level of that paranoid masterpiece because things are
never left to sit still for any length of time. By constantly pushing things
along, Roth misses many opportunities to ratchet up the tension. Since the
characters spend a lot of time split up and outdoors, the film fails to generate
much conflict between the group members, which is a pity considering the
fun to be had by keeping five possibly infected people cooped up in a small
locale. The greatest disappointment to be found in the film is that many
great chances like this aren’t capitalized on. Sub-plots (including a cameo
by Roth himself) are abandoned unnecessarily instead of being used to their
full potential. Still, it’s a measure of how good the film is that its biggest
flaw is that it could’ve been even better. Further compounding the problem
is the fact that a virus doesn’t quite have the presence of a monster or
murderer, and much of the film takes place in the daylight. Only on occasions
does the menace seem immediately threatening.
The other major quibble I have with the film is the
overuse of gore for shock effect. I’m sure many horror fans will delight
in the macabre scenes of rotting flesh and corpses, but for me it seemed
a little stale. The rest of the film has such a level of inventiveness that
resorting to disgusting images appears somewhat lazy. Indeed, some images
are returned to numerous times by Roth, which only diminishes their effect
and makes it seem as though he is straining a little to hard to repulse the
audience.
Still, horror fans will surely embrace this film for
its deliciously nasty plotting and infectious energy (okay, so I lied about
the puns). Roth is clearly a talent, and I’m sure everyone audiences everywhere
are hoping there’s more to come. |
Release Year: 2003