CABIN FEVER
A Lions Gate Films Release

review by Joseph B. Mauceri

SYNOPSIS:College friends Paul (Strong), Karen (Ladd), Jeff (Kern), Marcy (Vincent) and Bert (DeBello) head to an isolated cabin in the woods for a weekend of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Bert heads out to shoot squirrels and comes across a hermit (Verveen) who is suffering from a ravenous flesh eating disease. A series of tragic events leaves the friends standard at the cabin as the mysterious illness begins to infect everything around them. When one of the group eventually contracts the disease it sets of a level of distrust and tension that will pit them against each other as each friend tries to survivor their weekend at the cabin in the woods.

REVIEW:Director Eli Roth is without a doubt a horror aficionado, and CABIN FEVER will probably stand as the film that launches the career of this contemporary visionary of the macabre. Technically, Roth has it all under control. From the cinematography and sound design, to the special effects and the score, CABIN FEVER has the look and feel of any big budget studio production, and might even be a bit better than a few of the so called ³summer blockbusters² released so far this year. Cinematographer Scott Kevan captures that 70¹s & 80¹s low budget horror film look perfectly, but gives a sharpness and clarity that we¹ve only seen in those that are digitally re-mastered and release on DVD. When you¹re dealing with a great cinematographer you need a master special effects team to come up effects that can hold up. In my opinion, Roth could do no better than the hardest working, talented bunch of guys working in film than the KNB EFX Group. These guys have worked with many of the best directors working in the industry early on in their careers, such as Robert Rodriguez, David Lynch, Sam Raimi, John Carpenter, Quentin Tarantino are just a few. Pulling all his visual together are an amazing sound design and great musical score by Angelo Badalamenti & Nathan Barr. There is a blending of sound and score that adds the big payoff to the director¹s scares. In fact, it is the sound design and score that sets the tone for the film as the credits roll at the opening.

Roth¹s cast consists of a group of ³almost² knowns and famous who get the material and sells it to the audience. From ³Friday the 13^th² to the ³Nightmare on Elm Street² series, many of the adolescent characters have become stereotypes that are simply lambs for the slaughter. Part of the reason for their strength comes from Roth¹s dialogue. Okay, sometimes his characters say stupid things, but its part of their character and not funny for comedy¹s sake.CABIN FEVER comes up with some well-rounded main characters, but has a lot of fun with the hicks (a.k.a. rednecks). So from the visuals, to the characters, special effects, and one hell of scary score and sound design, CABIN FEVER is a horror fan¹s ³smorgoresbord.²

If there is one area that is could be easily criticized it is Roth¹s mix of comedy and horror. As if it wasn¹t bad enough that many mainstream critics fail to get the majority of horror films they review, they have an even bigger problem with serious genre films that use humor as a safety valve for terror and gore. However, Roth gets it. The humor is never mixed in with the drama, nor are the visuals influenced by Roth¹s sick sense of humor, and this director has one sick sense of humor. The bottom line is that if you view CABIN FEVER with a horror fan¹s prospective the film will sucker you in and take you along for the ride.

When you find you are in an era where the majority of the good horror movies are either remakes or re-releases, it¹s a chill and thrill to step into a theater and take a ride of the horror-side with a film that is part homage, partly taps into the public¹s subconscious, and delivers the horror goods. In preparation for the release of ³Freddy vs. Jason² I watch the original ³Friday the 13^th.² So I feel confident when I say that CABIN FEVER does for the woods what ³Jaws² did for the beach. I¹m only disappointed they aren¹t releasing this closer to Halloween.

OFFICIAL WEB SITE:
http://www.cabinfevermovie.com

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