CABIN FEVER. (2016) BASED ON THE ORIGINAL 'CABIN FEVER' FILM BY ELI ROTH. DIRECTED BY TRAVIS ZARIWNY. PRODUCED BY ELI ROTH. STORY/SCREENPLAY BY ELI ROTH. STARRING GAGE GOLIGHTLY, SAMUEL DAVIS, NADINE CROCKER, MATTHEW DADDARIO, DUSTIN INGRAM AND LOUISE LINTON. REVIEW BY SANDRA HARRIS. ©
I watched the original Eli Roth CABIN FEVER movie (the one from 2002) for the first time ever about a year ago. I flippin' loved it. I love that kind of horror film anyway. You know, where a bunch of dopey young 'uns go off into the wilderness for the weekend to smoke weed and have sex away from the watchful eyes of their folks but then something terrible happens and they all end up fighting for their lives...? Yeah, that's the stuff all right, heh-heh-heh.
I still remember certain scenes from the original CABIN FEVER movie that stayed with me because they were either so powerful visually or they were just extra-icky and made me feel queasy. The infected girl in the bath. The dog and the infected girl. The face of the infected girl after a night or two in Hotel Woodshed. All great and suitably horrific scenes that you don't tend to forget in a hurry.
Anyway, this CABIN FEVER film we're reviewing here seems to be a straightforward remake of the original 2002 film. The characters even have the same names and everything. Eli HOSTEL Roth is heavily involved once more, which is hardly surprising as the whole thing was his brainchild in the first place, but don't ask me why he decided to remake his own film because I haven't got a clue, haha.
Wasn't the original horror film pretty much good enough as it was? I would have thought so, personally. I loved that film. But sometimes, for their own reasons, rich famous film-makers do decide to remake movies that we all thought were finished, done, over with, even perfect. Films like THE WICKER MAN (1973) immediately spring to mind. Ours is not to reason why, however. Ours is merely to buy the overpriced cinema popcorn and pay through the nose to see the damn remake. Capiche...?
Now for my verdict. This film is by no means the travesty that some remakes end up being. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed all ninety-eight minutes of it. I think I even enjoyed it as much as I did the original film. It's still a highly horror entertaining story, with all the elements that combine to give you a good old scary romp with shocks by the barrel-full and even a few good laughs in there as well.
The five young All-American college students still drive off to the cabin in the woods for a few days of, well, smoking weed and having sex away from the watchful eyes of their folks. Yeah, pretty much just as we said at the beginning. Darned young 'uns never change...!
Not surprisingly, their phones have no signal way out in the sticks and there's only the most limited of Internet access (Oh my God, say it isn't so...!) so they'll have plenty of time for all that weed-smoking and shagging they plan to do.
The flesh-eating virus that cut an oozing, disgusting swathe through the young folks in the original film is back once more, with knobs and bells on. If anything, it's even more stomach-churningly revolting than it was before and the poor bewildered college kids don't really know what's hit 'em.
When the s**t hits the fan or, as in this particular case, when the sicked-up blood of crazy old Cousin Henry hits the windshield of selfish rich pretty-boy Jeff's car, things start to go downhill fast. It's your proverbial race against time as the five young people try to escape the all-consuming virus that's no respecter of gender or social status. The race is fast-paced and genuinely entertaining.
The three scenes I pinpointed earlier from the original movie are all present and correct in this remake and, yes, they're pretty much just as good. I liked that Deputy Winston has undergone a spot of gender reassignment since the last film and has become a hot blonde Southern belle porn star-type, haha. And, as before, there's nothing like a flesh-eating virus to help you find out who your friends
really are...
The casting of Gage Golightly (what a gorgeous name for a gorgeous gal!) as the beautiful blonde Karen works for me too. She's brilliant in the role and she's easily my favourite character in this remake. Well, next to the hillbillies, who are always good for a laugh...!
My favourite scene-slash-snippet-of-dialogue?
Sneering Hillbilly: 'Heh-heh-heh, that won't work like that, you've got the safety on...!'
Freaked-Out College Kid With A Gun: 'Thanks...!'
BANG...!
This ARROW FILMS-distributed movie will be in cinemas from May 13th 2016 and you know what? I think it's well worth going to see. If you liked the original film, you'll enjoy this remake as it's easily as good as its older sibling. If you've never seen the original film, well, go and see the remake because (as I may have just remarked!) it's every bit as good, as gory, as bloody and as vomit-inducing as its predecessor. You can then catch the original film on DVD for a nice sense of completion.
If this film were a comic book, well then I might say, as Comic Book Guy from THE SIMPSONS might say, and did in fact once say:
'I deem it rackworthy...!'
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY OF SANDRA HARRIS.
Sandra Harris is a Dublin-based novelist, film blogger and movie reviewer. She has studied Creative Writing and Film-Making. She has published a number of e-books on the following topics: horror film reviews, multi-genre film reviews, womens' fiction, erotic fiction, erotic horror fiction and erotic poetry. Several new books are currently in the pipeline. You can browse or buy any of Sandra's books by following the link below straight to her Amazon Author Page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B015GDE5RO
You can contact Sandra at:
http://sandrafirstruleoffilmclubharris.wordpress.com
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