Cabin Fever

Big-screen debut for the overrated Eli Roth who wrote (along with Randy Pearlstein) and directed a story heavily influenced by genre classics, ranging from George A. Romero’s milestones to the moronic slasher films of the 1980s.

It’s a tried-and-true formula: take the hackneyed group of young people who fit the requisite categories – hot slut, naive good girl, horny stud, shy nerd, idiotic jerk – and stick them smack-dab in the middle of a nightmarish rural vacation, battling for their lives. Especially in the second half, though, the film gradually takes a different route with some grotesque, surreal scenes that seem to have absolutely nothing to do with the story being told, but whose significance instead lies exclusively in the young director’s eccentric mind (In fact, in an interview Roth said: “It’s a deeply personal film on many levels”).

Strong contender for grossest scene of the film: A character thinks he’s performing a sexual act with his fingers on a woman, but is really penetrating a gaping wound in her leg.

The special effects, created with notable skill, don’t disdain truculence.