![]() Since horror relies on empathy to be frightening, the many horrific events of this film often deliberately come across as more amusing than frightening because not only does the audience not care whether the characters survive but many are written to be obnoxious enough that their grisly death scenes are more cathartic than frightening. They are meant to be figures of ridicule and derision, rather than more realistic examples of human evil. Whether it is the immature, sleazy, annoying and/or boorish behaviour of the students, the eccentric/mean-spirited locals, the shock value of an initially “friendly” shopkeeper suddenly saying something incredibly racist etc… virtually all of the characters in this film are intentionally designed to make the viewer dislike them instead of empathising with them.Īlthough horror movies can use a cast of untrustworthy and unsympathetic characters to create a genuinely disturbing atmosphere ( see Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2016 film “The Neon Demon” for a chilling example of this), “Cabin Fever” is a dark comedy because the characters are so cartoonishly unlikeable. Both the holidaying students and the locals are not only somewhat stylised, but also deliberately written to be unlikeable. Yet, to my surprise, it actually turned out to be a surprisingly cynical and “edgy” dark comedy movie that – whilst it includes some gruesome special effects – was more likely to make me laugh than shudder.Īlthough the plot of this film is – on paper – very much a horror movie plot, involving a group of American university students holidaying in a remote rural cabin who end up becoming infected with a gruesome flesh-eating disease, the way pretty much everything in the film is handled often has a lot more in common with a traditional dark comedy than the horror genre ( or even the more goofy and “feel good” mood of the comedy-horror genre).įor starters, there are the characters. From the critic quotes on the DVD cover and Roth’s later reputation for extreme horror movies, I was expecting it to be a genuinely scary horror film. ![]() Cabin Fever is merely created so that the Splatterhouse film loving crowd can fondly remember all of those films the rest of us have tried so hard to forget.Well, out of a mixture of vague curiosity and early 2000s nostalgia, I finally got round to watching Eli Roth’s 2002 film “Cabin Fever” for the first time ( SPOILERS ahead). For those who really want to see a terrific variation on the Living Dead series, watch 28 Days Later, a far more mature and frightening treatment. ![]() It’s all very unfocused effort, not really meant for mass consumption, and will obviously be a cult film for those who already love these kinds of movies. There is an occasional homage to a famous classic schlock movie of the past, but they are merely obscure references that only a small fragment of the audience will enjoy. In its place is a high gore quotient, and standard shock elements you’ve seen hundreds of times before. Unfortunately, this humor isn’t enough to save the film overall from becoming a dismal experience, and for most of the last hour, much of the humor is largely absent. The only thing I enjoyed while watching Cabin Fever was its offbeat, campy sense of humor. They end up killing the guy, but due to a strange set of circumstances, the disease is spreading to others, including the friends themselves. It’s a simple story really - a group of five college kids travels up to a remote cabin in the woods for some fun and frolic, where they are visited by a strange man who seems to be afflicted with some sort of disease that is eating his flesh. By the end, it becomes merely an inside joke for the ravenous few who watch every low budget gore-fest since Night of the Living Deador Texas Chainsaw Massacre and is without much entertainment value for almost everyone else. What starts off with quirky charm soon descends into meaningless dreck, eventually falling prey to the eddying nature of the derivative plotting. However, as a mixture of satire and homage, it is a film at odds with itself, wanting to be a fun romp within the genre, while also trying to deliver the standard gore and thrills that have virtually been cycled out of existence. As an homage, it also could have done the same. ![]() As a satire of schlock-horror, Cabin Fever had the potential to be much better than most attempts at covering the same ground in recent years.
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