Summary
A group of self-centered, annoying, morally worthless college students take a vacation at a remote cabin in the woods. Unfortunately for them, they're killed off by a horrible flesh-eating virus. Unfortunately for us, they're still healthy enough to complain about it, betray each other, and generally behave badly for most of the movie. At least there's lots of tits and gore (for those who like that sort of thing).
Warning! Spoilers ahead!
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Barbara's Rant
Tip of the day -- Cabin Fever is not the best movie to go see by yourself, especially if the theater is mostly empty and kind of creepy, and most especially if your husband is traveling that weekend, leaving you to return to an empty house with a tendency to creak at night. I ended up turning the TV on really loud and staying up far too late in the hopes that I'd just fall asleep immediately.
However, having truly exceptional gore doesn't excuse this movie from completely failing to give us anyone to like. It's certainly not unusual in a horror movie for the monster fodder to be incredibly irritating, but if that's the case, no problem, you just root for the monster. This is especially satisfying when the monster itself is appealing or otherwise compelling. I think Dracula (in almost any of his many incarnations) is the prime example of this, but Freddy and Dr. Phibes also spring to mind. Unfortunately for Cabin Fever, it's impossible to cheer on a virus. Essentially, this is a zombie movie, in which the only monsters are ourselves, and those who remain human must destroy their former companions, all the while knowing they could easily be the next to turn. Of course, you could argue that zombie movies are really a metaphor for plagues like the one shown in Cabin Fever. Zombie or virus, though, if there's no real villain then the movie must rest on its heros, however anti-heroic they may be, and that's where Cabin Fever failed. I wasn't pitying of their lost humanity as they turned on each other, since they didn't demonstrate much to begin with. I winced as they all got sicker, but they didn't give me any sort of moral struggle, just raw suffering. I'm not looking for impossible nobility, but I am looking real human frailty that I can empathize with. Consider the heros of Night of the Living Dead, in my opinion one of the greatest horror movies every made. As Barbara Jo says in her review, what makes NotLD so powerful is how truthfully and compassionately it reflects both the best and the worst of human nature. Cabin Fever only gives us the worst. And just as a story of a flawless hero rings false, so does a story of a virtueless hero.
BARBARA MAY
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