Cabin Fever

31 Horror Movies I Own #30: Cabin Fever

I know everybody likes Hostel more, but I still stand by my belief that Eli Roth’s first film is his best (so far). Cabin Fever evokes the feeling of old-school slasher movies complete with the requisite amount of drugs, booze, and T&A—but instead of a crazy killer, it’s an unstoppable virus that’s killing people.

The gist is that some college kids head out to a small cabin to party, and unfortunately encounter a very sick gentleman who stumbles out of the woods and vomits blood all over their car, and well, that’s when the trouble starts. Mysterious skin rashes turn into melting piles of goo, exploding bodies, and friends turning against friends as they try to fight something they can’t win against.

There are definitely a few “really?” moments that aren’t perfect, but as a whole, this film is highly entertaining. Blood, gore. More blood, more gore. Cringe-worthy close-ups of skin, bone and entrails, and the grossest shaving scene I’ve ever seen. I still think it’s great, and deserves more praise than it gets.

I recently caught Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, and it was also good in a similar way—as in: more blood and guts on screen than actual plot…and it’s actually even grosser. If that’s what you’re in to, check it out.