When Cabin Fever came out in 2002, reactions were mixed, not despairing – a total anomaly in the (normally) truly terrible genre of horror film. [Vince’s Note: I absolutely loved Cabin Fever.] The New York Times gave it a positive review, noting that, “making a satisfying horror movie is as difficult as cooking a perfect risotto” (could you imagine a more NY Times sentence?) Still, it’s unclear to me why Director Travis Zariwny has chosen to remake Cabin Fever using the exact same I-guess-fine script as the 2002 original. This is a movie about flesh-eating bacteria and lesions. Why copy paste?
Eli Roth, who co-wrote the original script with Randy Pearlstein, is set to produce. And while the original Cabin Fever opened to fairly-positive-almost-ish reviews, the sequels have only weakened, with Cabin Fever 3 scoring just 29% on Rotten Tomatoes. So it’s completely and totally bizarre to me that Roth only wants to continue the franchise’s descent into failure by reproducing the exact same story only ten years later. According to Roth (via ComingSoon.net):
Travis had an amazing vision for my original script, and as a scary movie fan I really wanted to see it. I almost see this like re-staging a play, and I’m excited to see what ideas Travis and the cast bring to it. They’re all fans of the original and want to make a film that’s a new classic and I believe they will.
While I understanding the value in restaging a play, Cabin Fever isn’t King Lear – it’s lesion porn. The original was produced just ten years ago. The storyline features bubbling epidermis. I could be wrong, but the whole operation reeks of intellectual laziness (and rotting adolescent carcass. Any Yankee Candles in the house?!). Gage Golighty (Teen Wolf) and Dustin Ingram (Paranormal Activity 3) are set to star, with filming beginning in Portland Oregon this week.
No word yet on the exact release date for this story you’ve already heard/this movie you’ve already watched/and will now pay for. Again.