Cabin Fever (2002)

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General		Extras
Category	Horror	Main Menu Introduction Menu Animation & Audio Introduction-Director's Warning Audio Commentary-Director and Actors Featurette-Making Of-Beneath Skin Interviews-Crew-Eli Roth (Director) - Popcorn Taxi Featurette-Audition Tape - Dennis "Pancake Boy" Short Film-Rotten Fruit - 3 Animations Theatrical Trailer Teaser Trailer Easter Egg
Rating
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	88:17
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Eli Roth
Studio Distributor	Warner Home Video	Starring	Rider Strong Jordan Ladd James DeBello Cerina Vincent Joey Kern Giuseppe Andrews Robert Harris Hal Courtney Arie Verveen Matthew Helms Richard Boone Tim Parati Dalton McGuire
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$39.95	Music	Angelo Badalamenti Nathan Barr

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Cabin Fever is a much hyped piece of work. Unfortunately, the scare-factor and gore has been over-hyped and your enjoyment of the work will probably suffer if your expectations are overly high. There are certainly far scarier and far gorier films to be found. Cabin Fever is, however, a sign of good things to come from Eli Roth - it isn't a great movie in itself, it is merely quite good - but it does bode well for the future I think. Whilst the film is essentially an homage to the "teens in the woods" slasher flicks of the eighties, it does manage to add in a couple of new twists, a reasonable dose of humour and some visceral special effects.

    Take five typical newly graduated white middle class kids. Give them a set of wheels and a week alone together in an isolated cabin in the middle of nowhere and you have the makings of a classic Friday The 13th plot. However, in this case, the killer is not a hulking brute armed with a machete, but rather a microscopic flesh-eating virus. When Karen (Jordan Ladd), Marcy (Cerina Vincent), Jeff (Joey Kern), Bert (James DeBello) and Paul (Rider Strong) rent a cabin in the wilds for a week of wanton drinking and sex they hardly expect to endure the horrors which are to come.

    After a brief stop to pick up groceries from a bunch of locals who would not be out of place in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the gang head out to the (Evil Dead inspired) cabin. Unbeknownst to the teens, a local woodsman has been infected by a horrible flesh eating virus courtesy of his eviscerated dog. The poor chap first comes into contact with the kids when Bert shoots him accidentally (at first). Not feeling the best, what with the flesh-eating virus and the gunshot wounds, the yokel pays a late night visit to the cabin in the vain hope of getting some medical help. Quite naturally, the kids are revolted by his appearance and rather than providing first aid, turn the bum into a human torch. Before he disappears like a human Halley's comet, the poor vagrant does at least manage to cover half the kids and all of their vehicle in copious amounts of highly infectious blood...

    The basic premise of the movie is a good one, but the plot is underdeveloped, and the good idea is let down by shallow characterisations, lazy scares and a rush to get to the gore. The dialogue is, to be honest, fairly weak and plays second fiddle to the special effects. This is possibly the Achilles heel of the piece. The cast of relative unknowns acquit themselves adequately, but the dialogue they are given to work with is pretty thin. The characters are all one-dimensional stereotypes and there is just a touch too much swearing and screaming, which is not balanced by more meaningful passages to drive the characters forward. The character of Deputy Winston (Giuseppe Andrews) is clearly a rip-off (or is that homage?) to Deputy Dewey (David Arquette) in the Scream flicks. Unfortunately, Winston comes across as yet another lazy stereotype who is overly hammy and totally without credibility in this context. The stoner played (at the last minute) by Roth himself makes for an interesting addition, but is a wasted opportunity - disappearing as suddenly as he arrives. The weirdest character by far is the surreal Dennis (Pancake Boy) with a real-life mullet of such ridiculous proportions that you would swear it must be a cheap wig.

    The film certainly does manage a few jump-out-of-your-seat scares, but the main accent is on gore. The make up special effects are very well done, but are not quite as over-the-top or horrendous as the rumour mill would have you believe. One of the most talked about scenes (SPOILER ALERT: highlight with mouse to read) (the leg shaving one) is quite visually striking, but in the main, even the gore is nothing you haven't seen before. The humour can be a little hit and miss, with a really cringe-inducing racist joke, some slapstick effects which feel out of place and that surreal Dennis character detracting, rather than adding to the film.

    Nonetheless, Roth has created a work that will earn itself a place on the shelves of most schlock collectors. It is by no means a classic and is outgunned by other films of a similar vintage - both the excellent 28 Days Later and Wrong Turn are better realised, more scary and will get more repeat viewings from this reviewer. As a starting point for the career of Roth however, it is likely to have value beyond its basic content.

    I am all for the "new director lucks out with his debut film" fairytale, but I am hoping Eli Roth delivers a more finely crafted effort with his next release. Balancing the comedy and chills a little better could have made this film a new classic of the genre. As it stands, it is a good appetiser - let's see how Roth goes with the main course. Recommended for horror fans - just don't let yourself be disappointed by all the hype.

Video

    The video quality of this transfer is generally very good, especially given the budgetary constraints faced by an independent film.

    The video is presented 16x9 enhanced at 2.35:1 which is very close to the the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.39:1. The transfer is satisfyingly sharp throughout, with just a touch of (probably intentional) grain creeping in from time to time.

    Given that this is a horror picture, there is a lot of low light shooting on offer. Thankfully the black levels are great and the shadow detail is almost always sufficient - especially if you watch in a fully darkened room, and how else should you watch a horror flick? There are a couple of scenes (in the quarantine shed and in the cave) where the shadow detail could have been a touch better, but they are only minor hiccups in an otherwise very well lit picture. Colours are well utilised throughout, with an autumnal palette utilised in the woods and (unsurprisingly) blood red being a frequent visitor to the screen. There is no colour bleeding evident. Skin tones look fine throughout.

    I noticed no major MPEG compression artefacts in the transfer. Very minor edge enhancement was occasionally present (for instance around the buildings at 30:29), but it never came close to being distracting - even on a large projected image. I never became aware of aliasing as an issue. Mild telecine wobble is present during the opening titles, but is not evident during the film itself.

    Film artefacts are occasionally present, but are always fleeting and never become a source of annoyance.

    Disappointingly for hard of hearing viewers, there are no subtitles available.

    This disc is single sided and dual layered (RSDL) with the extremely well-placed layer change cropping up very briefly at 72:54, just as the engine in the truck cuts out. It is so well placed as to be almost imperceptible.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The overall audio transfer is very good, with a powerful feel and some great "jump out of your seat" scares.

    The main English audio track is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 encoded at 448 kbps. There is perhaps a little too much swearing and not enough intelligent conversation making up the dialogue, but at least it can all be heard clearly. I noticed no lapses in audio sync. I also briefly sampled the Dolby Digital 2.0 track (encoded at 224 kbps) - it is perfectly serviceable, but obviously not a patch on the dynamic 5.1 surround mix.

    The music is, amazingly for such a low budget flick, provided by the excellent Angelo Badalamenti (Blue Velvet, Secretary). Luckily for Roth, he had worked with Badalamenti and David Lynch previously, and had got on famously. Angelo kindly offered to write the music for Roth's debut movie and has done a great job. The various passages all add genuine chills to the film, and the "love scene" passage is highly evocative of Badalamenti's Twin Peaks work.

    The front soundstage is nicely rendered with the dialogue anchored rock-solid in the centre channel. The main speakers are well used to provide some nice separation across the front soundstage, with off-screen door-knocks or the growling dog at 66:20 being wonderfully well placed. There are also some nice pans across the front speakers, for instance from the traffic around the 4:50 or 76:00 marks.

    The surround speakers are generally subtly - but well - used to provide a creepy ambience (creaks, leaves and crickets as appropriate) and to carry some of the musical score. There are some very satisfying directional effects, for example the bird flying past at 11:36. They occasionally spring to much more vigorous life, and the sudden use of the full dynamic range at 20:23 and several other shock moments may just make you wet your pants! There are some lovely enveloping sweeps which crop up from time to time, for example at 40:00, which really heighten the tension very well. Overall though, they could have been a little more heavily used in the mix for my money.

    The subwoofer is used throughout to support the shocks and to add bottom end to the musical score on occasion. The presence of decent bass is almost essential in a schlock horror film and the sub serves its purpose admirably here, without being over the top.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    There are plenty of extras on offer, and some of them are good fun.

Menu

    The main menu is an animated blood red affair accompanied by a heavy rock track. It allows the options of playing the movie, choosing one of a slight twelve chapter stops and access to the following extra features:

Easter Eggs

    Fairly obvious ones these, (SPOILER ALERT: highlight with mouse to read) there are several squirrel silhouettes present and clicking on any of them will play a short sound bite from the movie - one of them actually plays a short video clip (also from the movie). I managed to find six in total.

Popcorn Taxi Interview

    In a really worthwhile extra running for 35:39, Eli Roth is interviewed in July 2003 for the Popcorn Taxi movie club. I hadn't heard of this Australian group before, but checking out their website at www.popcorntaxi.com.au has piqued my interest. They are based in Sydney and Melbourne, and present special movie screenings often incorporating interview sessions with directors and others involved in the films they screen. This is a very interesting, detailed and fun listen. It is presented at 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 kbps.

Beneath Skin

    This "making of" featurette runs for a healthy 28:56, and is presented at 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 kbps. It is a fun watch, much better than the usual EPK offering, and covers the inspiration for the film, the effects and of course the cast.

Commentary Track

    This is a fun, light-hearted but informative track that is very much worth a listen. Eli Roth is joined at various stages by Jordan Ladd, Cerina Vincent and (via phone) his Mum and Dad.

Theatrical Trailer

    Presented at 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 kbps, this runs for 1:34.

Teaser Trailer

    Presented at 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 kbps, this runs for 0:49.

Audition Tape

    In a really weird extra running for 1:45, you can see Dennis "Pancake Boy" demonstrating his amazing martial arts and mullet-control skills accompanied by the Electric Six song Gay Bar. It is presented at 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 kbps. Home video tape tracking errors abound.

Rotten Fruit

    Three short, and absolutely hilarious, Eli Roth animations featuring Rotten Fruit - the most popular band in the World:

• Room Service (3:18) - presented at 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 kbps
• Snackster (3:40) - presented at 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 kbps
• Battle Of The Bands (5:27)- presented at 1.33:1 with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 kbps

    The Region 1 release of this film appears to be in an essentially identical format to our own, but it does contain some slightly different extras.

• Popcorn Taxi Interview

    The Region 4 release misses out on:

• Four additional Director's Commentary tracks, including a solo Roth affair, the male actors, a Rider Strong track and the filmmakers
• Family Version - a less than two minute edit showing only the "family friendly" bits of the movie
• Chick Vision - a pair of hands covers up parts of the screen when the scary bits are near
• Trailers for other Lion's Gate releases

    The Region 2 release is supposed to get all the commentary tracks plus a UK specific contribution from Eli Roth, but will apparently miss out on:

• Family Version - a less than two minute edit showing only the "family friendly" bits of the movie
• Chick Vision - a pair of hands covers up parts of the screen when the scary bits are near
• Popcorn Taxi Interview

    This is a difficult choice. I'm not the world's greatest fan of commentary tracks, although some of the missing tracks are reportedly quite good. For me, the excellent Popcorn Taxi segment makes up for the missing tracks. Either way, each version has something unique to offer. For most people, the Region 1 version may just get the nod.

    Cabin Fever is a very nice attempt at 80's style horror from Eli Roth. Whilst the initial strong premise is a little let down by some lazy scares and limited plot development, the film is still generally gory fun. Hopefully Roth will stretch himself a little more on his next project as he shows all the signs of becoming a power player in the genre. The extras (particularly the Popcorn Taxi interview) hint at the talents that will surely make Eli Roth a contender - if only he takes a little more time with his dialogue and character development, and worries a little less about the obvious shock effects. Whilst this is certainly recommended for fans of the genre, those who have only a passing interest in the horror scene will find little new to convert them here.

    The video quality is surprisingly good for a small budget flick.

    The audio transfer is rather good and supports the visual scares very well, although a little more punch from the surrounds would have been welcome.

    The extras are quite extensive, and add some additional value to the package although we do miss out on four additional audio commentary tracks.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall