Cabin Fever
Oct. 13th, 2004 02:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiTivo recorded Cabin Fever for me, and I finally watched it last night.
Quick opinion: It's a good, but very flawed movie.
There's a lot of good stuff here. The cast is wonderful. Jordan Ladd has long been one of my favorites (ever since The Specials, still the best damned superhero team movie). Cerina Vincent is a great counterpoint to her (and as a bonus, she was the second Yellow Power Ranger, so anyone with a Saban fetish should have a field day with her nude scenes). And Rider Strong makes a great lead.
The tension and paranoia amongst the group once Jordan gets infected is the heart of the movie. The inner conflicts that they all go through, the fights, the confusion, is all conveyed perfectly. The one scene in which Rider puts Ladd out of her misery was just brutal. All four characters (Ladd excluded, of course) had to make some really tough choices.
The backstory with Ladd and Strong added a lot to the two of them, as well.
The gore and horror stuff, too, was wonderfully done, with some incredibly nasty stuff that nevertheless didn't feel gratuitous (in fact, the only thing that really squicked me was Vincent's offscreen dismemberment by the dog). Lots of good, nasty stuff that reminds me of the late '70s horror scene.
It also did a damned fine job of mixing black humor with the horror, and it was clear that the director has read Clover's Men, Woman, and Chainsaws, as the city/country dichotomy is lifted straight from there
The problem, though, is that the director is incredibly self-indulgent and narcissistic. A little of that's a good thing. Yeah, the cabin setup is from Evil Dead, and that's a nice tribute. Sure. the paranoia is definitely influenced by The Thing, but what horror film isn't? But it eventually gets old. The Hills Have Eyes stuff, the Deliverance references, etc. Yeah, you've got influences. We don't need to see every one of them.
He's also self-indulgent with his ideas, and there's just too much stuff tossed into this movie because he thought it was cool. The ludicrous kid with the karate moves. The silly store owner. The deputy. The fucking harmonica scene. The ending scene, which should, at best, have appeared after the credits (and really didn't need to be there at all). And don't get me started on the man in the goddamn bunny suit. Humor's fine if you're doing a true parody, or even a black comedy, but there are times you've got to let the tension mount.
I know it's also silly to criticize plotholes in a horror movie, but what the fuck was up with the cop dumping Strong's body in the creek? Just didn't make any sense at all. I don't mind not knowing the origin of the virus (it's better that way, in fact), but getting a little bit more information about the sheriff's motivation would have been nice (as would some sense of how it spreads, as different people seem to get it at different times, and no one who encounters Strong seems concerned about getting sick).
I've commented about Garth Ennis, and how I think he's best when he has an editor reining him in. Eli Roth, the director of this film, is the same way -- he has a lot of truly brilliant ideas, but he needs to know which ones not to just throw out there.
The best comparison I can think of is Re-Animator. Like that film, Cabin Fever is one I want to watch again. There are some scenes that I'll never forget, and some humor that's incredibly over the top and effective. But like Re-Animator, there are enough flaws here that the movie works more as an exhibition of Roth's potential than as a perfect movie in and of itself. Of course, what worries me is that Stuart Gordon never really found his footing. I do hope that Roth can do a little better, as I'd love to see him realize his potential.
Of course, I'm still happy that there are folks trying to make indy horror films (not counting the C-grade slashers and D-grade monster flicks that make their debut on Sci-Fi). The more voices we have making indy gorefests, the better chance of another Peter Jackson or Sam Raimi emerging.
(EDIT: The fact that this was a very-hyped movie probably did affect my opinion at least a little bit, yet another reason I need to watch it again)
Quick opinion: It's a good, but very flawed movie.
There's a lot of good stuff here. The cast is wonderful. Jordan Ladd has long been one of my favorites (ever since The Specials, still the best damned superhero team movie). Cerina Vincent is a great counterpoint to her (and as a bonus, she was the second Yellow Power Ranger, so anyone with a Saban fetish should have a field day with her nude scenes). And Rider Strong makes a great lead.
The tension and paranoia amongst the group once Jordan gets infected is the heart of the movie. The inner conflicts that they all go through, the fights, the confusion, is all conveyed perfectly. The one scene in which Rider puts Ladd out of her misery was just brutal. All four characters (Ladd excluded, of course) had to make some really tough choices.
The backstory with Ladd and Strong added a lot to the two of them, as well.
The gore and horror stuff, too, was wonderfully done, with some incredibly nasty stuff that nevertheless didn't feel gratuitous (in fact, the only thing that really squicked me was Vincent's offscreen dismemberment by the dog). Lots of good, nasty stuff that reminds me of the late '70s horror scene.
It also did a damned fine job of mixing black humor with the horror, and it was clear that the director has read Clover's Men, Woman, and Chainsaws, as the city/country dichotomy is lifted straight from there
The problem, though, is that the director is incredibly self-indulgent and narcissistic. A little of that's a good thing. Yeah, the cabin setup is from Evil Dead, and that's a nice tribute. Sure. the paranoia is definitely influenced by The Thing, but what horror film isn't? But it eventually gets old. The Hills Have Eyes stuff, the Deliverance references, etc. Yeah, you've got influences. We don't need to see every one of them.
He's also self-indulgent with his ideas, and there's just too much stuff tossed into this movie because he thought it was cool. The ludicrous kid with the karate moves. The silly store owner. The deputy. The fucking harmonica scene. The ending scene, which should, at best, have appeared after the credits (and really didn't need to be there at all). And don't get me started on the man in the goddamn bunny suit. Humor's fine if you're doing a true parody, or even a black comedy, but there are times you've got to let the tension mount.
I know it's also silly to criticize plotholes in a horror movie, but what the fuck was up with the cop dumping Strong's body in the creek? Just didn't make any sense at all. I don't mind not knowing the origin of the virus (it's better that way, in fact), but getting a little bit more information about the sheriff's motivation would have been nice (as would some sense of how it spreads, as different people seem to get it at different times, and no one who encounters Strong seems concerned about getting sick).
I've commented about Garth Ennis, and how I think he's best when he has an editor reining him in. Eli Roth, the director of this film, is the same way -- he has a lot of truly brilliant ideas, but he needs to know which ones not to just throw out there.
The best comparison I can think of is Re-Animator. Like that film, Cabin Fever is one I want to watch again. There are some scenes that I'll never forget, and some humor that's incredibly over the top and effective. But like Re-Animator, there are enough flaws here that the movie works more as an exhibition of Roth's potential than as a perfect movie in and of itself. Of course, what worries me is that Stuart Gordon never really found his footing. I do hope that Roth can do a little better, as I'd love to see him realize his potential.
Of course, I'm still happy that there are folks trying to make indy horror films (not counting the C-grade slashers and D-grade monster flicks that make their debut on Sci-Fi). The more voices we have making indy gorefests, the better chance of another Peter Jackson or Sam Raimi emerging.
(EDIT: The fact that this was a very-hyped movie probably did affect my opinion at least a little bit, yet another reason I need to watch it again)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-13 04:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-13 05:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-14 01:13 pm (UTC)Nothing, ever, could hope to be as bad as BWP2, though.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-15 12:34 pm (UTC)As for BW, it was one of the few movies that ever left me feeling a bit nervy at the end, like the first Nightmare on Elm Street--but then again, the woods have always held a hidden menace for me, after the sun has gone to sleep, kinda like I live in between the reels of The Evil Dead.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-15 01:18 pm (UTC)And yeah, I can think of plenty of worse films, too. But BWP2 is certainly one I never need to see again.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-15 12:39 pm (UTC)But those were just the ones I talked to.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-13 05:37 pm (UTC)Though I'm sure many editors do think of themselves as royalty.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-14 01:12 pm (UTC)