Cabin Fever (2002)

Directed by Eli Roth. Starring Rider Strong, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern, Jordan Ladd, Arie Verveen, Hal Courtney, Giuseppe Andrews, Eli Roth, Robert Harris. [R]

Five obnoxious young stereotypes rent a cabin in the woods, but their vacation is interrupted by an unknown flesh-eating virus that starts infecting them and turning them into scabby, gooey freaks. In his feature debut, writer/director Roth demonstrates kernels of talent, and provides a good idea where his sensibilities lie—offbeat humor with a gallows edge and gore galore—but this homage-heavy genre exercise is just a mess, failing to merge its cross-purpose styles of appealing to people who like to be grossed out and people who like low-rent absurdist/stoner hijinks. It probably would have helped if the viewer wasn’t primed to want horrible things to happen to these irritating individuals, or if the inspirations weren’t so obvious they sometimes just feel like ripoffs (one character’s fate can be seen coming miles away by anyone who’s seen Night of the Living Dead). Followed by a sequel, a prequel, and a remake.

40/100