The whole premise of this film just makes my skin crawl . . .
. . . no pun intended (or was there?).
When I think about a flesh eating virus it definitely freaks me out. When you pair it up with a group of dumb kids on vacation in the woods there is just no end to the freakiness. I mean, this is not just a horror film, there really is a flesh eating virus out there . . . people really do lose limbs and die from it . . . there really are backwoods, country bumpkin towns that have really stupid and backwards townspeople . . . add that together with my runaway imagination and in my freaked out paranoid little mind - this could really happen!
Okay, now that I am over my rant let's get to the movie. It was actually pretty good. It had a way of being over the top in the cheese department without really going too far over the top. I have to say the "pancakes" scene was totally unexpected and hilarious in a part of the film where you expected sympathy and compassion - you got pancakes (you have to see it to get it).
Although the main character, Paul (Rider Thomas) will never not be Shawn Hunter from Boy Meets World to me, he was decent as a twenty something who was destined to be walked all over for the rest of his life. The rest of the cast didn't bother me much either, well except for maybe the voice on Bert (James DeBello) which sounded a bit like he had been up all night at a concert the night before smoking Lucky Strikes or something. Eli Roth's cameo as Justin aka Grim the skateboarding, dog loving, soon to be eaten by a flesh eating virus pothead was quite enjoyable.
I thought the scene with Karen (Jordan Ladd) and Paul where she isn't feeling well and he is "comforting" her in bed was so great. It reminded me a lot of the scene in Creepshow 2 in the segment The Raft where the kid was feeling up the girl who was asleep . . . you do things like that in a horror film and you are bound to get your comeuppance.
And to think, Eli Roth was writing this on the set of Howard Stern's Private Parts where he was a lowly production assistant . . . shame on you Howard for not paying more attention to this up and comer. As they say, hindsight is always 20/20. On another note, be sure to watch the film to the very end to understand why I am now looking at my bottle of Zephyrhills natural spring water and cringing just a little . . . (I truly just had chills).
Cabin Fever Movie Cast and Credits
Directed by
Eli Roth
Writing credits
Eli Roth (written by) and
Randy Pearlstein (written by)
Eli Roth (story)
Cast (in credits order)
Rider Strong .... Paul
Jordan Ladd .... Karen
James DeBello .... Bert
Cerina Vincent .... Marcy
Joey Kern .... Jeff
Robert Harris .... Old Man Cadwell
Arie Verveen .... Henry (The Hermit)
Hal Courtney .... Tommy
Matthew Helms .... Dennis
Richard Boone .... Fenster
Tim Parati .... Andy
Dalton McGuire .... Lemonade Boy
Jana Farmer .... Lemonade Girl
Dante Walker .... Shemp
Jeff Rendell .... Fake Shemp
Brandon Johnson .... Ray Shawn
Charee Cuthrell .... Cadwell's Crush (as Cherie Rodgers)
Bill Terrell .... Happy Wednesday Band
Richard Terrell .... Happy Wednesday Band
Jeff Evans .... Happy Wednesday Band
Mike Hill .... Happy Wednesday Band
J.K. Godbold .... Happy Wednesday Band
Giuseppe Andrews .... Deputy Winston
Richard Fullerton .... The Sheriff
Phil Fox .... Evil Deputy
Gabriel Roth .... Shooter #1
Donald Lee Hall Jr. .... Shooter #2
Jeremy A. Metcalf .... Shooter #3
Christy Ward .... The Hog Lady
Michael Harding .... Shotgun Casey
Julie Childress .... Beautiful Wife
Eli Roth .... Justin (aka Grim) (as David Kaufbird)
Rock .... Dr. Mambo
Noah Belson .... Guitar Man
Doug McDermott .... Harmonica Man
Matt Cappiello .... Troubadour
Jessica Masserman .... Winston's Date
Paige Hunter .... Underage Girl
Gino Vincent .... Cerina's Brother
Shiloh Strong .... Rider's Brother
Darcy Martin .... Shiloh's Girlfriend (as Darcy Jo Martin)
Jay Aaseng .... Sir Chug-a-Lot
Matt Schwarz .... The Bad Influence (as Matthew Schwarz)
Jessica Chortkoff .... Cat Hat Girl (as Jessica Shortkoff)
Mark Morse .... Shocked Guy
Heather Simmons .... Shocked Girl
Dean Masserman .... Mr. Mom/The Victim
Sam Froelich .... Doctor #1
Tom Terrell .... Doctor #2
Anonymous .... The Bunny Man (as We will never tell)
Evan Astrowsky .... Helpless Bystander
Luke Blackwood .... Dennis Double
Mark Schwarz .... Hospital Attendant
Shana Schwarz .... Hospital Hottie
Joe Adams .... Killer
Adam J. Roth .... The Happy Bald Guy (as Adam Roth)
Jeffrey D. Hoffman .... The Victim (as Jeff Hoffman)
John Neff .... The Victim
Nancy Neff .... The Victim
Michael Reardon .... The Victim
Glenn Weisberger .... The Victim
Roy T. Wood .... The Victim (as Roy Wood)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Timothy Matson .... Evil Deputy #2 (uncredited)
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