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Cabin Fever - Special Edition

Cabin Fever - Special Edition

List Price: $14.98
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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not original, but alright
Review: For what it is, "Cabin Fever" isn't bad. Five college kids go into the woods for a planned weekend long party. What they don't plan on is catching a disease that eats your skin away. Like I said, it's watchable, but not real original. It is a mish mash of other, more populor horror movies. It's a little bit of "28 Days Later", "Cujo", "Deliverance", "The Evil Dead", "The Stand", and "Night of the Living Dead". Like I said, it's ok, actually better than most. It just isn't terribly origanal. The cast ranges from bad to ok, really nothing special. The gore is pretty gruesome (the leg shaving scene being the truely crenge worthy). It is alright, if you can find it on cable.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Funny, Dumb, and Twisted
Review: This movie was not scary at all, the first 20 min.of the movie was interesting but what came after was just pure laughter and flat out Dumb. It's a movie to see on a Monday night cause you have nothing else to do!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Average horror movie packes a few decent scares.
Review: "Cabin Fever" attempts to pay homage to the classics in a genre that has been collecting dust since the 80's, and succeeds in delivering a few jolts in the process. The story is well conceived, though the direction and especially the writing fails to make this movie stand out as anything other than a campy party movie that will gross out the more squeamish viewers. Read on, if you're interested...

The story begins like so many "Friday the 13th" movies have, with 5 college students decide to head up into the woods to celebrate the end of their finals by spending a week at a secluded cabin. The 5 kids are right out of the horror-cliché handbook: The horny couple, the token stoner/misfit, and the painfully nice guy who wants nothing more than to get into a relationship with his frosty-box platonic girl friend. Before heading to the cabin, they are given the ominous warning to "Stay out of the woods", and as you might expect, they don't listen. One night they are paid a visit by a seriously sick and demented hermit, who appears to be carrying some sort of disease. The hermit dies in the lake, and infects their water supply, which spreads a parasite that causes the body to melt and break apart in the most gruesome fashion. What happens next is better seen than described, but gore-hounds will definitely be pleased.

The cast and crew are composed mainly of unknowns. Director Eli Roth is obviously on his first feature, and pulling out all the stops (assuming he might never get the chance again). Even by horror standards, the script is bad, making the characters as one-dimensional as possible. The one-liners, f-words, and obligatory sexual innuendos are a staple of the genre, and are given in mass quantity here, making the movie unintentionally funny at times. The acting is as inept as can be expected, though Cerena Vincent (best remembered as the perma-nude exchange student from "Not Another Teen Movie") stands out, and her scenes do not disappoint. The special effects are the payoff, however, with skin bubbling and melting, blood spewing, and plenty of gruesome dismemberments. The effects are very Tom Savini-inspired, and are very well done.

The DVD contains five commentaries (!), which is hefty considering that the movie hardly warrants a second viewing, let alone five. I haven't touched them, but the "Beneath The Skin" documentary (30 minutes) is fun to watch, consisting of interviews with the main cast and crew, while splicing in behind the scenes shots, including many of the effects pieces. What makes is fun is that nobody involved seems to take the movie too seriously, and obviously approached it as more of a fun project. The other extras are jokes, consisting of the 1 minute "Family Version", the movie shot in "Chick Vision", which cuts out all the jump scenes and gore shots for the sensitive girls watching, and the hilarious "Rotten Fruit" segments, which further displays Director Roth's obsession with rotting and decaying things. The sheer quantity of extras will keep you busy for almost 10 hours, though you have to wonder if a movie like this warrants that investment in time.

"Cabin Fever" is gory and occasionally goofy, which made it a fun movie to watch the first time around, but with the shock value worn off, it is hard to find a reason to watch it again. It is average in every sense of the word, and is not likely to stand up to other time-honored horror classics. My recommendation is marginal.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: this could have actulay been an enjoyable movie
Review: This movie was filled with so much potential and scares and everything good needed to make a truly scary horror movie but it was all shot away when some unkown director HAD to add humor into the mix...OK FOR ALL THE DIRECTORS WHO THINK HORROR AND COMEDY GO TOGETHER...UNLESS UR MAKING A SEQUAL TO EVIL DEAD, SCARY MOVIE, OR ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, HORROR MOVIES DO NOT NEED COMEDY!!!!! YOU COMPLETELY RUIN A HORROR MOVIE WITH STUPID LITTLTE JOKES AND QUIPS! When you go to see a horror movie you go to get scared! how can you get scared when there is a joke every 5 minutes? This movie had a good cast, a great score and a great idea...too bad all we got from it was a mid-level horror/drama/comedy..that doesnt do anything but leave u wanting more when the upbeat, twisted conclusion comes around..ok whats with the last scene back in the shop we saw at the begining of the movie with the guy being all black with the people that walk in and whats with the ending music...COME ON!!! thats so retarded! this movie could have become a good movie quite possibly a classic but NO...there had to be a no name director working on a movie way out of his grasp...COMEDY RUINS ANOTHER ONE!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: DISS CABIN FEVER ALL YOU WANT, BUT I LOVED THIS MOVIE!
Review: FIVE COLLEGE FRIENDS SPEND A WEEKEND AT A REMOTE MOUNTAIN CABIN. BUT WHEN ONE OF THEM GETS INFECTED WITH A FLESH EATING DISEASE, THEY MUST FIGHT TO SURVIVE THE VIRUS AND EACH OTHER. THIS GORY HORROR FLICK IS VERY EXCITING, VERY THRILLING, AND VERY CLEVER. THIS TRULY IS ONE OF THE BEST HORROR MOVIES I'VE SEEN RECENTLY. OF COURSE, HORROR FANS WHO ONLY THINK THAT MOVIES LIKE FRIDAY THE 13TH AND HALLOWEEN ARE HORROR MOVIES MOST LIKELY WON'T DIG THIS MOVIE. BUT SMART HORROR FANS SHOULD LOVE THIS.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Gory, and fun too!
Review: I watched Cabin Fever on Video. I thought the movie had
enough blood to satisfy the gross-out movie fans. Also,
there was alot of horror movie humor that is typical
of a teenage horror movie. I thought it was somewhere
between 28 days and Wrong Turn in terms of plot and feel.
Definitely a film to watch for horror fans.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: crud
Review: Not scary, not funny, not suspenseful, not fresh, not original. Complete and utter pile of trash. I don't know how anyone could be scared of such a ridiculous attempt at a film. Shows what garbage is produced when you cater to the lowest common denominator of film audiences (Americans).

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Could've been better without the first 45 minutes
Review: First of all, get prepared for a usual pull-'em-down, slash-'em-up, cuss-as-you-please, could-care-less-about-writing teen movie. You should be in for quite an enjoyable time if you excuse the movie for these typical charactersitics. Eli Roth must have rolled one too many for the first 45 minutes, (i.e. "Why are you going to shoot squirrels?" "Cause they're gay.") but please bear with it because (hey i barely got through it) the last 50 minutes or so is awesome and if the whole movie was this good, it could've been a truly great horror movie. Throughout the whole movie, however, Roth could've cared less about making you care for his characters, except Rider Strong, and the humor is so badly arranged, you wouldn't know what movie it came from if you've seen that movie a hundred times. However, soon after the first person gets sick (around 50 minutes, just in case you want to fast-forward) this movie really picks itself up and runs, with the deterioration of character, especially Strongs, who's one of the most vivid personalities in any horror movie in recent memory, and his uncontrollable, murderous rampage. Some of the cinematography and gore are so intense and engaging its easy to FORGET the first 45 mins. This is what makes Cabin Fever a great ride. Not the humor, not the sex, not most of the writing, and if you forget to have fun with it after the first 45 mins, enjoy your nap!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fun movie and a healthy DVD
Review: This movie is extremely enjoyable only if you keep an open mind while watching it. There are scenes and characters that are really absurd and poorly executed, but keep in mind that this movie was a low budget film and there are many actors in the film that were inexperienced. The first half hour of the movie is outrageously funny, and then the movie gets very bloody and unforgiving. If you see this movie more than once, you should focus on how the characters develop and unwind as the movie goes along. At first, Rider Strong's character is a "virgin" to everything immoral and dangerous but as the film goes along, he sheds his "virginity" and becomes the most vicious and insane of the characters. I thought the main cast was great. Joey Kern and Rider Strong had the best performances and James Debello was, as always, hysterical. Giuseppe Andrews, who plays the deputy, was the funniest and strangest of the characters. There are many different roads that the director tries to escort us down but some just become "dead ends". The director has many things on his plate and he doesn't know when to stop asking for seconds.
The DVD has your basic behind the scenes featurette but its much more enjoyable than most. There are also three Claymation shorts (done by director Eli Roth) called "The Rotten Fruit." They are really funny and crude. Also, there's an incredible kung fu performance by the mullet haired kid who plays Dennis. You can tell why that kids' strange slow motion kung fu attack was in the movie. There are plenty of commentaries to listen to and enjoy. The first commentary of Eli Roth is very insightful to his personal experiences with the movie business and with the making of this film. After listening to Roth's commentary you understand more about some of the problems of the making of this movie, and you get more of a perspective about why some of the things in the film don't necessarily work out the way Roth would have liked them to. The commentary with the boys (minus Rider Strong) is very fun to listen to. You hear all the stories that happened off the set (like their trips to local bars and strip clubs).

Overall, this movie does have some great elements to it. I think I enjoyed it more than most, but I hope you at least watch it once. It is a perfect weekend, late night rental at the least.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Hey, boys and girls, this Eli Roth kid has got potential
Review: "Cabin Fever" probably turned my stomach more than any horror film I have seen in a long time, which is actually intended to be a compliment when you consider how many of these films attempt to do so and only end up being laughable. The premise has the virtue of not relying on anything supernatural. A group of five college students head for a cabin in the woods so they can party hearty, but they run into a hermit (Arie Verveen) who has some flesh-eating disease that is getting really, really bad. It will not surprise you that the kids end up trapped in the cabin and that some of them start coming down with the disease. In case you are not clear on how this is going to happen lots of ominous music by Angelo Badalamenti and/or Nathan Barr is provided to reinforce the hints given by the camera.

The problem is that the moments of horror, such as when Paul (Rider Strong) discovers that Karen (Jordan Ladd) is sick, are not in the service of a better film. It would be interesting to have one of these films in which you actually minded if these kids died off one by one. First time director Eli Roth exhibits true technical competence, a clear sign that he was weaned on this genre, but he actually proves to be too good for his own good in this 2003 film. Roth clearly has a sense of humor (check out "Cabin Fever: The Family Version" and the other special features on the DVD), but since he really creates some moments of true revulsion, the funny stuff seems out of place. Splatter flicks tend to have a lot of humor in them because the horror ends up being so campy that you might as well pretend the whole film is a joke. That is not the case here. Ironically, the DVD comes with "Chick Vision," where a pair of "hands" cover up most of the screen so it is difficult to see the bad stuff, which would actually convince you this is your standard low-budget splatter flick and not one that has moments that go for the jugular.

Another problem is that Roth is clearly working in homages to other classic films, from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" to "Evil Dead," that only serve to work against his own endeavor. The locals are pretty much "Deliverance" rejects and part of the ending smacks too much of "The Night of the Living Dead," further dispelling the film's best moments. Then Roth tacks on a series of final ironies that strips away the remaining horror elements so that the scenes that had us freaking out seem like distant memories of another film. Certainly Deputy Winston (Giuseppe Andrews) wandered in from some tacky low-budget horror film, apparently to further sabotage this one. I have no doubt that Roth thought the comedy and the homages were necessary parts of this film, but after you have watched "Cabin Fever" review the film in your mind, take away those parts, and think about how long this film would have kept you up at night after watching it for the first time.

However, there is reason to believe that one day Roth is going to figure out how to either integrate the horror or abandon it completely, and make a horror film that could be one of the scariest of all time. There are so many moments in "Cabin Fever" that show an understanding of true horror and are going to stick with you, that makes it clear the kid has got potential in this genre. The only thing that might stop Roth is when he gets real money to make a movie, because that could actually stifle his creativity. But I really think that if Roth were to stop referencing other works and moderate the humor, he would be the odds on favorite to make the horror film that would be "The Exorcist" for this generation.


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