It's your typical horror set-up (and very similar to the Evil Dead movies), in which a bunch of college students go to a cabin in the woods after finals, only to be ravaged by a flesh eating virus. As strange as it might seem, every horrific occurrence in Cabin Fever is plausible - the horror comes not from any supernatural occurrence, but the characters' reaction to the impending doom. Of course, there's no shortage of crazed hillbilly locals to help scare the be-jeebus out of you as well.

Like any horror movie, it's derivative of what's come before it. As I've mentioned before, it's not whether the film is revolutionary of not (although that helps), it's how well it works either inside or outside of its genre. Cabin Fever has one foot planted in each, I think. It's just like a late 70's horror film in one respect, but it also has an odd sense of dark humor that's rarely seen in modern horror. Oh sure, most horror flicks have their puns and death jokes, but here the humor is more tinged with dread. Since not much scares me, I only wish the film would have explored this humor further. We get Dennis, the be-mulleted biting child who yells, "pancakes" and does karate - unfortunately, that's the height of its strangeness.

The directing by Eli Roth pays explicit homage to many films that come before it, so Cabin Fever is a film that will tickle the nerd in you, when you recognize shots and references. On this level, I really enjoyed it. Roth is obviously a guy with a love for cinema, and enjoys creating it. The cast too seems like a fun loving bunch, ready to do many silly and disgusting things in the name of horror. In particular Cerina "they’re real and they're spectacular" Vincent actually extends her acting chops, showing that she can bring some pain, as well as some amazingly good looks. Rider Strong gets to play against his Boy Meets World image, and James DeBello, perennial stoner supporting actor, gets to kick some ass.

If you even like horror a little bit, you'll probably enjoy Cabin Fever. The plot is simple, the horror is grotesque and there are plenty of naked boobies. But perhaps it's the film nerds that will enjoy it the most - finding the references, enjoying the 70's haircuts and spotting stolen shots. Like Peter Jackson, maybe you have to really enjoy all horror to fully enjoy this one.

Movie Grade: B

Video: 4 out of 5
A really beautiful transfer. The film is shot in an extra wide scope that we usually don't get to see in modern horror. It's also purposefully golden and brown, to give it the feeling of Texas Chainsaw and similarly shot films.
Widescreen Anamorphic - 2.40:1

Audio: 4 out of 5
It's a fairly aggressive track with plenty of loud musical scares and disgusting squirts and pops.
English (Dolby 5.1)

Extras: 5 out of 5
There's actually not that many extras, but what's there is perfect for a movie geek. A couple of the extras are more gimmicky than anything, but it's a good bunch of stuff. First is the "Chick Vision" extra, which places big hands (on the subtitle track) across the screen when a scary scene is on. I don't know who would actually use this, but I guess if you have an extra-frail girlfriend, it actually might come in handy. Next is the "Family Version" of the film - I don't have to tell you how long that is. And for you film dorks in there, in his introduction director Eli Roth actually makes visual reference to something that Bruce Campbell does in his book signings. Yes, he's that kind of film nerd.

There are 3 claymation shorts (a total of 12 minutes) of something that Roth worked on called "The Rotten Fruit". It takes fruit, casts them in a punk / rock band, makes them British and follows the wackiness. Quite funny. Also included is a short section called "Pancakes". I'll let you discover this for yourself. To round out the video extras, there's a half-hour behind the scenes that is nearly clip-less. It's all good stuff, but they easily could have doubled the length of the extra if they would have focused more on the makeup effects.

Finally, there are no less than five commentaries on this disc. I'm a sucker for a good one, and Eli Roth's director's commentary ranks among the best I've heard. It doesn't hurt that he touches on things that are close to my heart, such as the "Fake Shemp" and the genius of Texas Chainsaw. It could be heard in concert with Robert Rodriguez's ultra-informative Mariachi commentaries for a mini-film school. The two take vastly different approaches, so it's a good listen. There are also commentaries with the guys in the film, the girls, the producers and a Rider Strong solo track. Eli Roth moderates three of the commentaries, asking really great questions. Luckily, no one in the disc really holds back about their feelings. We hear why Jordan Ladd wouldn't get naked, what it felt like to have her "woman time" while getting makeup, and other down and dirty subjects. He asks exactly the sort of questions that most of the (admittedly male) viewers want to know.

Overall: 4 out of 5
It's a fun, sexy, bloody movie with plenty of laughs and a film dork as a director. What could be better?