From legendary horror director Eli Roth, Cabin Fever, post the Covid era feels like it has aged spookily well and now provides us with greater insight into what a truly ground-breaking story when originally released over twenty years ago.
Cabin Fever isn't something that immediately grabs you, but the simplicity of the story about four teenagers having a peaceful getaway in the woods, before all hell breaks loose bears similarities and draws from other stories or cult classics such as films like The Evil Dead or even Dreamcatcher.
With a completely unknown cast and, I predict, a low budget, Cabin Fever exercises a great cultural balance of the townspeople, and core characters each with their own unique personalities, which helps form a tightening bond, of you personally relate to, and for me it was Joey Kern as Jeff, who constantly covered his nose, trusts no one and refuses to get close to anyone who may be infected.
In Cabin Fever where lies one of its great strengths is the overall uncertainty. Immediately, do we trust the hillbilly, redneck townspeople with the weird child Dennis sitting on a bench who tries to bite people? Is there a killer on the loose after we meet the strange hunter, or the traveling hippie with his dog and bag of weed? Is there something more sinister lurking in the woods?
Going into this film blind, I was quite surprised that a deadly flesh-eating virus with no apparent cure was the cause of horror that spreads throughout the party, infecting our protagonists one by one. The quick ascension of the virus and the physical effects have a lasting touch and make for a gruesome physical sight, where once infected the skin and flesh seem to peel, and glide away from the body, while the mental state of the teenagers begin to take a turn for the worse, on how they each individually deal with such a contagious disease.
From spewing blood to being slowly gnawed apart piece by piece by this flesh-eating virus, to discovering it is spreading through the water supply after a body is found floating nearby contaminating the reservoir of the town.
These surprises are not entirely new, but they are interesting. We never learn about the origins of the virus, and that itself could lead to a potential prequel down the track. There is a slow build-up at the beginning but then Cabin fever roars to life in the second half with the ending leaving the door open for an impending sequel.
Most importantly this virus as we have lived through in recent times showcases the incompetence and lack of expertise from our doctors, public servants, and behind-the-scenes government officials who obviously want to cover up anything remotely damaging or hide uncertain truths from the general populace.
This leaves a great deal of the film to interpretation, but it gives enough to understand what is going on, and what ways it can be stopped, leaving an gratifying taste in your mouth of wanting to learn more.
With a good balance of humour with the town shopkeeper, from keeping you largely unaware, and in the dark for good portions of the film, to the extra scenes where a health pandemic pamphlet is being handed out in the town of the mysterious illness, Eli Roth projects a beneficial, and relevant movie about real horrors in today's world.
A largely underappreciated film in its time may be its time in making a comeback, as I found it deliciously fascinating and something that seems probable at any time which makes the film lasting and deserving of many more plaudits than it has otherwise received in the past.
7/10.
Cabin Fever isn't something that immediately grabs you, but the simplicity of the story about four teenagers having a peaceful getaway in the woods, before all hell breaks loose bears similarities and draws from other stories or cult classics such as films like The Evil Dead or even Dreamcatcher.
With a completely unknown cast and, I predict, a low budget, Cabin Fever exercises a great cultural balance of the townspeople, and core characters each with their own unique personalities, which helps form a tightening bond, of you personally relate to, and for me it was Joey Kern as Jeff, who constantly covered his nose, trusts no one and refuses to get close to anyone who may be infected.
In Cabin Fever where lies one of its great strengths is the overall uncertainty. Immediately, do we trust the hillbilly, redneck townspeople with the weird child Dennis sitting on a bench who tries to bite people? Is there a killer on the loose after we meet the strange hunter, or the traveling hippie with his dog and bag of weed? Is there something more sinister lurking in the woods?
Going into this film blind, I was quite surprised that a deadly flesh-eating virus with no apparent cure was the cause of horror that spreads throughout the party, infecting our protagonists one by one. The quick ascension of the virus and the physical effects have a lasting touch and make for a gruesome physical sight, where once infected the skin and flesh seem to peel, and glide away from the body, while the mental state of the teenagers begin to take a turn for the worse, on how they each individually deal with such a contagious disease.
From spewing blood to being slowly gnawed apart piece by piece by this flesh-eating virus, to discovering it is spreading through the water supply after a body is found floating nearby contaminating the reservoir of the town.
These surprises are not entirely new, but they are interesting. We never learn about the origins of the virus, and that itself could lead to a potential prequel down the track. There is a slow build-up at the beginning but then Cabin fever roars to life in the second half with the ending leaving the door open for an impending sequel.
Most importantly this virus as we have lived through in recent times showcases the incompetence and lack of expertise from our doctors, public servants, and behind-the-scenes government officials who obviously want to cover up anything remotely damaging or hide uncertain truths from the general populace.
This leaves a great deal of the film to interpretation, but it gives enough to understand what is going on, and what ways it can be stopped, leaving an gratifying taste in your mouth of wanting to learn more.
With a good balance of humour with the town shopkeeper, from keeping you largely unaware, and in the dark for good portions of the film, to the extra scenes where a health pandemic pamphlet is being handed out in the town of the mysterious illness, Eli Roth projects a beneficial, and relevant movie about real horrors in today's world.
A largely underappreciated film in its time may be its time in making a comeback, as I found it deliciously fascinating and something that seems probable at any time which makes the film lasting and deserving of many more plaudits than it has otherwise received in the past.
7/10.