neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Cabin Fever
	Eli Roth Jordan Ladd, Rider Strong, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern, Arie Verveen 2002		Scarier than Freddy, Jason, Leatherface, the Creeper or that "Halloween" guy ... it's the Flesh-Eating Virus! Yep, here's a horror film that relies on one of the great bugaboos of the day as its source of dread — a deadly infection. Ebola and anthrax have nothing on the strain that starts to consume the vacationing college students of director/co-writer Eli Roth's grisly, gristle-y "Cabin Fever." It's a low-budget effort that makes good use of limited resources: a backwoods setting with a ramshackle cabin, inbred-lookin' supporting players as the local yokels and a handful of somewhat attractive, annoying young actors (Jordan Ladd, Rider Strong, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern) as the designated victims. The gang's on break from school and ready for drunken, randy fun in the mountains. Too bad about the tainted flora and fauna. There's no explanation about the origin of the virus, not that it matters. Let's simply say that the film is a good argument for remembering to bring bottled water and beer on your next camping trip. It's more gore-ific than terrific, but "Cabin Fever" does what it sets out to do, and that's to provide cheap shocks and blood-splattered gross-out moments for fans of the genre.