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Cabin Fever
Lions Gate Films Inc.


4.1

based on 31 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 68 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

Hostel

MPAA RATING: R for strong violence and gore, sexuality, language and brief drug use

Starring Jordan Ladd, Rider Strong, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern, and Arie Verveen

Based on skin-curdling tales of the real life "flesh eating virus," Cabin Fever blends the elements of classic horror films of the 70's and 80's with modern day medical terror. (Lions Gate Films)

GENRE(S):	Horror \| Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Eli Roth (also story) Randy Pearlstein
DIRECTED BY:	Eli Roth
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: January 20, 2004 Video: January 20, 2004 Theatrical: September 12, 2003
RUNNING TIME:	94 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Film Threat Eric Campos

Gory, scary, smart and funny, this is definitely one of the best horror films I’ve seen in years.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Completely -- and quite cleverly -- contrived, a cascade of stupid mistakes and miscommunication stirred into a visceral stew of gooey blisters and flaying layers of bloody flesh.

Film Threat Kevin Carr

While Cabin Fever takes its horror very seriously, it still shows that it has a sense of humor.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

Roth never fully exploits the woods around him, and the homes of the locals are far too middle-class, but because so many clichés are discarded amid the flesh rot, even the patented "Night of the Living Dead" coda feels sharp-edged and genuine.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Sustains such a palpable mood of foreboding until the end.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

If this story has a moral -- though unlike many horror films, it doesn't seem to -- it's that humans are likelier to destroy themselves than help each other.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

A ferociously entertaining and mean little horror movie that achieves the kind of outrageous vibe best enjoyed in a crowded, noisy theater.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Roth, who has taken more than a few cues from Raimi, David Lynch (whom Roth worked with), and George Romero (Night of the Living Dead), is working in a horror tradition that goes way back -- and he's working it with nasty glee.

Premiere Glenn Kenny

It plays on your knowledge of/expectations about generic horror movies and then either delivers the goods from an unexpected angle or pulls the rug out from under you.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

First-time director Eli Roth turns this cheapie into a greatest-hits of horror. It's a blast of good gory fun that just won't quit.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

So this is a first-level, unironic fright film, the sort whose tongue is removed from its cheek, coated in gore, and pointed right at the audience.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Cabin Fever may not be a horror classic, but it's definitely an ideal midnight movie.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

A refreshingly old-fashioned splatter movie.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Ultimately, Cabin Fever isn't going to win any awards for originality - it's too busy twisting the conventions of the genre back in on themselves for that - but it does provide a jarring battery of scares (often depressing ones at that) that make it severed-head-and-shoulders above the spate of recent shockers.

USA Today Mike Clark

A disciple of David Lynch's, Roth packs his story with horror, humor, hillbillies and sex. Roth caps his fast-moving story with a joke that's as oddly left-field as it is funny, but truth to tell, it is funny.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Other than a few witty jokes and a game cast, there's nothing particularly special here.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

While many films of this kind are undermined by amateurish performances, the main cast is solid and some of the supporting performances (many from non-professionals) are small gems.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Roth puts a sardonic spin on the puritanism of the 80s slasher.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

A big, dumb, crude, noisy, goose-the-audience bash and proud of it. It's not nearly as unsettling as ''28 Days Later.''

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

Hypochondriacs and germ freaks may dig it.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

It's so by-the-numbers and clumsy that it will only appeal to that little sect that's managed to wear out their "Evil Dead," "Friday the 13th," "Halloween" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" DVDs.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Doesn't have the gonzo wit of ''Re-Animator'' or ''Evil Dead 2,'' nor is it flat-out terrifying like ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' or even a zombie-come-lately like this year's ''28 Days Later.''

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

As a thriller, Cabin Fever falls short, filled with characters so obnoxiously stupid that just watching their skin slowly melt off doesn't seem like enough punishment.

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

Maybe Roth was too busy paying tribute to all his childhood influences to take the necessary steps, but even in this uneasy era of SARS and other airborne horrors, his flesh-eating virus movie never convincingly gets under the skin.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

The result is something neither scary nor funny.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie adds up to a few good ideas and a lot of bad ones, wandering around in search of an organizing principle.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

This movie may appeal to the youthful, midnight-madness crowd, but there isn't enough in it to bestow it with classic B-movie glory.

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

Rather than steep his story in dread, ideas or something, anything, fresh and different, first-time director Eli Roth just pours on the blood, along with some recycled surrealism and plenty of giddy movie allusions.

Variety Dennis Harvey

Uncertain whether to go for straight suspense or gross-out effects, genre in-joking or schlock cinema-of-parodic-excess, Eli Roth's backwoods horror opus Cabin Fever seldom sticks with any one tactic.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

It's just a loud, derivative grade-Z horror film of no particular distinction.

Chicago Tribune Ellen Fox

It's just a watery, undeservedly smug update of the low-budget, kids-stranded-in-the-sticks bloodfests of the 1970s and '80s.

The average user rating for this movie is 4.1 (out of 10) based on 68 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Adam gave it a9:
This movie is everything Eli Roth set out for it to be. A fun, gross, horror-comedy that is a throwback to the movies of this genre of the 70s' & 80s'.

CAbin Fever gave it a0:
This movie was so bad, I was tempted to actually go to Africa, find a child with ebola, drink their blood, and suffer the intolerable endless pain rather than watch more than 5 minutes. Were it not for the fact that i live on a different continent, i would hunt down and kill every single actor and writer involved in this movie. I would rather witness the deathrattle of my firstborn than see this movie again.

MDJ2010 gave it a1:
OKay, this film is not smart, is not intentionally funny and lacks any kind of story worth commenting on. The casting is awful, the performances are a joke, the shock factor is pathetic. This is everything that is wong with the horrow genre today. What I will say is that you won't be bored for the time you watch it as long as you are not alone, because you will simply be in constant amazement at just how poor a film can be.

David D gave it a0:
Jesus, that was a bad movie! I agree with some of you who said that a lot of it did not make any sense and it was random. I couldn't agree with you more!! How in the world can anyone, especially critics give this pos a good review, i have no idea!

[Anonymous] gave it an8:
Wow this movie was absolutely disgusting. To the point where it was unbearable... I loved it.

Jeff F. gave it a3:
The obviously stuffed dear going through the guys windshield was just about funniest thing I've ever seen in a movie. Lots of unintended laughs.

Riren gave it a6:
Cabin Fever is a weird movie that doesn't even know what it wants to be until its half over. I would like to be an atmospheric horror film, but its too cheesy and has too poor acting to pull it off. It degenerates into an uncomfortably funny horror romp, in the vein of Dead Alive/Braindead or Feast. Yet Cabin Fever is still it's own kind of beast, from it's disgusting decomposing characters, to the ludicrous character development, and an ending that should have any horror fan laughing. Imperfect, leaning towards stupid, but still an entertaining entry onto the fringe of Horror.

Cabin Fever Lions Gate Films Inc.

Cabin Fever
Lions Gate Films Inc.