This movie was just a hell of a lot of fun. I should preface this (and
date myself) by saying I grew up in the horror boom in the 80's.
Other fans in their 30's... remember when movies like this came
out ALL THE TIME? Remember when animatronic, not CGI, were
the norm? Remember when you didn't have to wait for DVD for
something fun like this, when you knew it would play in a local
theater that wasn't a huge pain in the ass to get to, you could just
go catch a matinee alone if you couldn't wait? I grew up bugging
my parents (till I was 17) to take me to see The Thing, The
Howling, American Werewolf in London, Evil Dead 2, Scanners...
and I got spoiled, because I figured horror flicks like that would
always be the norm. Young, naive, I thought things would always
be this great.
So I guess it's sort of bittersweet that when I heard about this
movie harkening back to the 80's and even 70's good old gory fun
guilty pleasure horror flicks, I got so excited I almost peed my
pants. I read about it in Fango (I've been a subscriber and read
every issue cover-to-cover eagerly since 1986, that should give you
an idea of my horror fan credentials) Premise? A group of teens
are trapped in the woods, hunted not by a boring slasher, but a
flesh-eating virus. OK, sold me right there. That right there is
enough to make me want to see it. Then I heard it had animatronic, no CGI, the filmmakers were about the same age as
me and grew up on the same films, just wanted the movie to be
entertaining like the good old days, and got more excited. The
bittersweet part, I guess, is how much I had to go out of my way to
hunt down info about it and buy tickets in advance to see it at
Seattle International Film Festival (Since I missed out on Bubba
Ho-Tep, by God, I was NOT missing this one), though I didn't mind
the line around the block an hour in advance (more nostalgia,
especially for when I saw Dead Alive at a midnight show there
--gulp--ten years ago).
The audience that night in May of 2003 was packed with fans like
us, who were also, how do I put this, not entirely sober, ready to
have a blast, and we weren't let down. When this comes out in
wide release-- YES, they made it into wide release!! see it at a late
night opening weekend for maximum fun and impact. As I said
before, I don't remember every single detail of the film (if you get
my chemical drift) but I don't need to, and you can see it sober and
still get every iota of entertainment out of it.
A group of college-age kids decide to head out to an extremely Evil
Dead-style rural cabin, get stoned, have fun. One of the guys has a
huge crush on a blonde, now dating his buddy, he's been just
friends' with until now, and he hopes to change this over the
weekend. The way this particular plot thread/character arc ends
was probably the most haunting in a movie filled with seriously
nightmarish moments.
There were plenty of laugh-out-loud moments-- the audience,
including me, roared through the whole film and cheered with
approval so frequently (at the gruesome as well as the funny parts)
that I missed many lines. There were also groans of anticipation
(that sounded pornographic, didn't mean it that way) when we
could all see foreshadowing of something satisfying to come. But
these weren't the `Well, I can see THIS coming five miles away'
predictability- type groans-- instead, the audience were made up of
savvy horror fans who saw a great payoff coming and got it.
It's not perfect (though damn close enough for me). It was
gruesome, but the buckets of gore' had been hyped so much I
was a little surprised it wasn't bloodier. Plenty of gross-outs,
though, and keep in mind this is a reviewer who has seen the
deleted scenes from the UNCUT version of Dead Alive and is thus
very, very jaded and almost impossible to shock. I doubt most gore
fans will go away unsatisfied. An ending that I thought left one plot
thread hanging (and not in a set-up-for-a-sequel way, just in a
huh? way) but again, I could have missed it.
For me, though, the single scene worth twice the price of
admission is a campfire tale told in flashback early on in the film
that is a Tales From the Crypt fan's wet dream, about a killer in a
bowling alley. Kind of a throwaway thing that isn't tied in intricately
with the plot of the movie, but was the *single coolest thing* I've
seen in any movie all year. The audience obviously was just as
elated as we were because they ROARED through the whole
sequence. For that alone, I give Cabin Fever 10/10 stars.
I also am not a flamer, but I have to say-- those of you calling this
movie a rip-off do not know the difference between a rip-off and a
tribute. There's tons of rip-offs out there. Cabin Fever is a tribute.
And the rest of the flick isn't bad either. Go, and have a blast like
you used to in the good ole 80's golden years of the horror flick. Is
it too much to hope that this will start some sort of nostalgic trend?
From what I've read in interviews from the filmmakers (who
worked their ass off making, financing, and pitching the film)
expect more of the same from them, at least.
date myself) by saying I grew up in the horror boom in the 80's.
Other fans in their 30's... remember when movies like this came
out ALL THE TIME? Remember when animatronic, not CGI, were
the norm? Remember when you didn't have to wait for DVD for
something fun like this, when you knew it would play in a local
theater that wasn't a huge pain in the ass to get to, you could just
go catch a matinee alone if you couldn't wait? I grew up bugging
my parents (till I was 17) to take me to see The Thing, The
Howling, American Werewolf in London, Evil Dead 2, Scanners...
and I got spoiled, because I figured horror flicks like that would
always be the norm. Young, naive, I thought things would always
be this great.
So I guess it's sort of bittersweet that when I heard about this
movie harkening back to the 80's and even 70's good old gory fun
guilty pleasure horror flicks, I got so excited I almost peed my
pants. I read about it in Fango (I've been a subscriber and read
every issue cover-to-cover eagerly since 1986, that should give you
an idea of my horror fan credentials) Premise? A group of teens
are trapped in the woods, hunted not by a boring slasher, but a
flesh-eating virus. OK, sold me right there. That right there is
enough to make me want to see it. Then I heard it had animatronic, no CGI, the filmmakers were about the same age as
me and grew up on the same films, just wanted the movie to be
entertaining like the good old days, and got more excited. The
bittersweet part, I guess, is how much I had to go out of my way to
hunt down info about it and buy tickets in advance to see it at
Seattle International Film Festival (Since I missed out on Bubba
Ho-Tep, by God, I was NOT missing this one), though I didn't mind
the line around the block an hour in advance (more nostalgia,
especially for when I saw Dead Alive at a midnight show there
--gulp--ten years ago).
The audience that night in May of 2003 was packed with fans like
us, who were also, how do I put this, not entirely sober, ready to
have a blast, and we weren't let down. When this comes out in
wide release-- YES, they made it into wide release!! see it at a late
night opening weekend for maximum fun and impact. As I said
before, I don't remember every single detail of the film (if you get
my chemical drift) but I don't need to, and you can see it sober and
still get every iota of entertainment out of it.
A group of college-age kids decide to head out to an extremely Evil
Dead-style rural cabin, get stoned, have fun. One of the guys has a
huge crush on a blonde, now dating his buddy, he's been just
friends' with until now, and he hopes to change this over the
weekend. The way this particular plot thread/character arc ends
was probably the most haunting in a movie filled with seriously
nightmarish moments.
There were plenty of laugh-out-loud moments-- the audience,
including me, roared through the whole film and cheered with
approval so frequently (at the gruesome as well as the funny parts)
that I missed many lines. There were also groans of anticipation
(that sounded pornographic, didn't mean it that way) when we
could all see foreshadowing of something satisfying to come. But
these weren't the `Well, I can see THIS coming five miles away'
predictability- type groans-- instead, the audience were made up of
savvy horror fans who saw a great payoff coming and got it.
It's not perfect (though damn close enough for me). It was
gruesome, but the buckets of gore' had been hyped so much I
was a little surprised it wasn't bloodier. Plenty of gross-outs,
though, and keep in mind this is a reviewer who has seen the
deleted scenes from the UNCUT version of Dead Alive and is thus
very, very jaded and almost impossible to shock. I doubt most gore
fans will go away unsatisfied. An ending that I thought left one plot
thread hanging (and not in a set-up-for-a-sequel way, just in a
huh? way) but again, I could have missed it.
For me, though, the single scene worth twice the price of
admission is a campfire tale told in flashback early on in the film
that is a Tales From the Crypt fan's wet dream, about a killer in a
bowling alley. Kind of a throwaway thing that isn't tied in intricately
with the plot of the movie, but was the *single coolest thing* I've
seen in any movie all year. The audience obviously was just as
elated as we were because they ROARED through the whole
sequence. For that alone, I give Cabin Fever 10/10 stars.
I also am not a flamer, but I have to say-- those of you calling this
movie a rip-off do not know the difference between a rip-off and a
tribute. There's tons of rip-offs out there. Cabin Fever is a tribute.
And the rest of the flick isn't bad either. Go, and have a blast like
you used to in the good ole 80's golden years of the horror flick. Is
it too much to hope that this will start some sort of nostalgic trend?
From what I've read in interviews from the filmmakers (who
worked their ass off making, financing, and pitching the film)
expect more of the same from them, at least.