What's with all the hate for Cabin Fever?

[TrippingBalls]

Everybody hates this movie and I can't seem to understand why. It was funny as hell and over-the-top with gore. Easily one of the best American horror movies of this decade.

[Cronos]

the acting was crappy, the script and characters annoying, the gore ranged from being half decent to being really crappy. i didnt like the direction at all and ive seen the same kind of plot done a hell of a lot better many times already...i also really hated how it became a shitty slasher thing in the last 15-20 minutes

3/10

[Lazy Boy]

I need more than over-the-top gore and humor to make me like this film. There has to be some contribution of good acting and writing, which this doesn't have.

[the dead one]

Without going into a long post, I feel that Cronos and Lazy Boy have pretty muched summed up the vast problems that I had with CF...

I prefer to make this point, I had the unique experience of seeing CF on a weekend with my son. We arrived early to get decent seats, which we did, soon the place was packed S.R.O!

By the 30 minute mark we had turned around to notice that half of the theater was empty, no bullshit dude! Not that I blamed anyone for bailing on this turd, but plain and simple, CF was a film that did not live up to its hype. It seems from the response I had witnessed, the film didn't grab the audience at all. Theres an old saying: 100 people can't be wrong....Cabbage fever was horrid.

Why a filmmaker like Peter Jackson even bothered to promote this was beyond me...maybe he was smoking a fat bowl with one of the Hobbits! :rolleyes: That or Eli Roth had compromising pictures of Jackson having sex with a goat...

[TrippingBalls]

But if only half left, then that means the other half still stayed. I don't think I've ever seen a more love-it-or-hate-it type of movie than Cabin Fever. I thought it was a gory, funny, entertaining time at the movies. It was just fun, that's the best word to sum up Cabin Fever. Of all the people I know who've seen it, I don't know any of them who thought it was just "okay". It was either somebody loved it, or hated it.

[Duke Nukem]

That hate comes from the boasting Eli Roth made in 2003. He proclaimed "Wrong Turn," from earlier that year, to be a weak throwback to `70's and `80's horror and went to say that "Cabin Fever" would be the all-time throwback to the the time period.

Yes, that was his opinion, he had the right to say how he felt, but his movie couldn't have been more mis-marketted and overhyped. The previews made it look creepy and scary as hell. But, it wasn't scary at all in any way. The acting was fine, it had a dread-filled atmosphere and it has some unexpected gory quotients here and there...but It was also terribly written and dread-filled atmosphere was ruined by "funny" comic relief characters that were better off in another movie. The director played in cameo himself as one of the "funny" comic relief characters, a stoner! The director literally ruined his own movie by himself!

It's not that that I don't have a sense of humor, it's that this movie was better off as a straight-forward scary movie instead of scary-and-"funny" horror movie, that was it's fatal downfall.

"Wrong Turn" was consistenly on the ball and never letting up it's fun, creepiness, surprising kill/gore effects here and there and chases. It played it straight-forward and was most effective that way. It may not have been the most original backwoods slasher movie, but the filmmakers put it in the effort.

"Cabin Fever" was the opposite of that and was a joke, and not a "funny" one either. If they had stuck to the dread-filled atmosphere and kept it on the ball, it could have been much better. The actor's talents were wasted. That is why "Cabin Fever" is so hated. It promised to be something, but turned out to be something completely different. Eli Roth screwed with the audience and it was his fault.

But, I don't hate Eli Roth. I gave "Hostel" a fair chance and enjoyed it. It wasn't that much of a "gore/torture" movie as the previews promised, but it turned out to be a better suspenseful movie than the all-out gore/torture movie it could have wound stinking up as. But, I still question his nerve and arrogance over the matter of "Cabin Fever > Wrong Turn."

[TrippingBalls]

Well I agree with him, I think Cabin Fever is leagues better than the mediocre Wrong Turn. But that's my opinion.

If you notice in Hostel, it also has a lot of dark humor that could be compared to Cabin Fever, such as comparing the Bubblegum Gang kids to the "pancakes" kid from Cabin Fever.

[The_Driller_Killer]

I didn't think the acting was all that great either, but I do not blame the actors themselves. No matter how great of an actor you are, if you're working with a poorly-written script, you're going to look like an ass. If Meryl Streep had been in this film, her talents would've been panned.

But anyways, as I've also said in the previous threads about this film, my biggest problems with it was the bad writing and the unoriginal story. However, I would not classify it as being a terrible film. I'd have to say it was okay for what it was: a stormy night time-passer.

[TheDeadWalk]

Originally posted by TrippingBalls
Well I agree with him, I think Cabin Fever is leagues better than the mediocre Wrong Turn. But that's my opinion.


Notice how Wrong Turn is seldom heard anymore, unless it's used to reference to describe Eli Roth or in discussion of Cabin Fever.

Roth's proof is in the pudding. Wrong Turn is warping into the realm of forgotten horror cinema. Not to fret though, there are plenty of Wes Craven films there to keep it company.

[thedudeman69]

No wonder this movie had bad acting, most of the actors were like B or C movie actors.

[Duke Nukem]

I disagree about "Wrong Turn" being "forgotten" within horror cinema. You can't officially say people don't talk/like it anymore. How do you know? Did you talk to every horror fan on earth? I still pop it in my DVD player once in a while and I'm sure many others do as well.

It may not have been the most original backwoods slasher movie, but it wasn't a total rip-off either. It was edgy, fast-paced, enjoyable and the suspense never let up. It is one of the better overall horror movies within recent years of R = PG-13 and R-light constantly going on. It was straight-forward, promised a certain something and gave that certain something as promised. It didn't f!ck with the audience's expectations the way "Cabin Fever" did.

[TheDeadWalk]

I was giving a general assessment. You don't need to interview the homes of each and every single horror fan and ask them how many times they watch wrong turn on a yearly basis.

The buzz of the film seems to have came and went for the most part. Just because it plays in your DVD player doesn't change that. Nor will it go down in history as a great slasher film. I believe it will go into the wayside with a lot of other mediocre, but not horrible films.

I never tried to parlay that I was trying to do a census vote for the Motion Picture Association of America or the American Film Institute. Everytime my name and my avatar show up in a thread, it should be taken as my opinion unless otherwise noted.

[TheDeadWalk]

Originally posted by Duke Nukem
It didn't f!ck with the audience's expectations the way "Cabin Fever" did.

I thought it was made aware that Eli Roth didn't intend for audiences expectations to be fucked. Now, assuming that you meant the marketing decisions, I have left this for you and anyone else that has quarrels regarding teh f!cked expectations.

CABIN FEVER MIS-MARKETED?

I felt like CABIN FEVER was mis-marketed. I understand why they sold it as a “scary movie”, but I wish they had told people that is was funny as well. I wish they had said that it’s fuckin’ scary and funny like EVIL DEAD 2. But they didn’t, they said it was 28 DAYS LATER. And a lot of people went in expecting 28 DAYS LATER and it’s not. They cut it like 28 DAYS LATER. I understand why they did that, but at the same time, you gotta tell people it’s funny too otherwise they’re gonna be confused. So a lot of people went in there going, “What’s this ass-fingering and gay stuff…” and other people who were open to it, that had heard that it was weird and fucked up were like, “Yeaaah”, screaming and cheering, like a rollercoaster.

http://www.joblo.com/arrow/index.php?id=452

[Duke Nukem]

"Hostel" was also mismarketed, but I didn't have a problem with the final product. It didn't turn out to be the all-out gore/torture movie, but it turned out to be a great suspense movie. It still had some gore and torture sequences, but in many ways, it turned out to be a better suspense movie than the all-out gore/torture movie it could have devolved into. It also had it's funny parts here and there (not to mention morbid funny stuff with the "doctors"), but it was genuinely funny...

...Unlike the "funny" scenes and "hilarious" comic relief that killed the dread-filled atmosphere of "Cabin Fever" and put it to a screeching halt. It wasn't funny in the least and was terribly written. And whether it was actually funny or not, the movie was better off as a s straight-forward paranoia flick, not a scary-and-"funny" horror movie.

More and more movies are being mismarketed all the time now, and I've always been able to adapt to their different territories than promised, but "Cabin Fever" was an uneven horror movie that should have promised as an uneven horror movie with a lot "funny" comic relief featured in the previews, not as an all-out scary movie. Maybe Eli Roth tried to let that word out in interviews, but the studio definitely f!cked with the audience's expecations.

[42ndStreetFreak]

The first half was awful. Annoying American skank teens doing all the things that make me wish Jason would show up and stick a machete in their worthless heads.

But the 2nd half I thought was very good, with some nicely bizarre moments and some choice grue.

I hope "Hostel" is more like the 2nd half of "Cabin Fever" and not the first half.

[The_Driller_Killer]

Was anyone else reminded of the film Creepshow 2 (the "Raft" segment in particular) in a couple of scenes of Cabin Fever? Well, namely the scene where Paul and Karen venture off to a raft in the center of the lake and later, while Paul caresses Karen's groin while she's sleeping, only to discover she is bleeding profusely and grue is leaking from her body. That scene always reminded me of the scene in "The Raft" when Randy is kissing and caressing Laverne while she's asleep and soon, she awakens and half of her face is covered with the creature inhabiting the lake.

[Criminal Rock]

Originally posted by the dead one
...maybe he was smoking a fat bowl with one of the Hobbits! :rolleyes:...

"Your love of the halfling's leaf has clearly slowed your mind."
-Sauron

[Pestilence]

Dashed expectations were mainly part of why I hated Cabin Fever, and yes some of that was down to the marketing campaign, but in response TheDeadWalk's comment...Eli Roth plied the movie in interviews as a HORROR FILM.

He even went so far as to lambast Wrong Turn as being filled with fake titties (of which there were none that I could see), and his film being the real deal when it came to 70s throwback horror. I've said it once before, and I'll say it again :

At least Wrong Turn was a horror movie.

I don't know if he came out said it himself, or the fan-train just got moving with the excuses that the "horror film" marketing campaign was not something he wanted. However, if Eli himself said that, then he's absolutely full of shit. One of the comments he made in numerous interviews at the time was that this was a real horror movie to scare the shit out of your date, then you could take her home, watch a romance movie and "seal the deal". Pretty much his exact words. And every ounce of it a load of crap.

Had he kept his trap shut instead of mouthing off about other (better) movies, I probably would have enjoyed Cabin Fever a bit more than I did. I didn't hate the film, but I sure wouldn't buy it.

[42ndStreetFreak]

"Cabin Fever" was still better than tame-o, lame-o "Wrong Turn".

[SteeleDude]

I actually loved Cabin Fever. I thought it was hilarious and gory and fun. And nudity too!

[morFIEND]

maybe its just me, i just dont see anything wrong with cabin fever. but then again, i rarely watch tv and if there was any marketing done for it, i had only seen a preview for it online.

when i finally went to go see it, i didnt have any expectations and came out with a smile on my face. that could be the reason why i too question the fact that so many people claim it to suck ass. but then again thats the same reaction i would hear when people mentioned house of 1000 corpses.