Film Review - Cabin Fever (2016)

Cabin fever 2016 is a remake or re telling of the 2002 Eli Roth monster hit of the same name. Eli Roth returns to the franchise this time taking the Producers seat this time around.

Pretty much following the exact events of the original, of a group of friends who take a week away from the stresses of College life and go to a secluded cabin in the woods. What was meant to be a relaxing getaway turns into a nightmare from hell when they are faced with a killer skin disease which was pass to them from a strange man who seeked help from them. In their desperate attempt to escape they soon realise that unless they escape now they will all die there.

I was very reluctant going into this film, being an Eli Roth fan I was really apprehensive about seeing a remake of a film that is only 14 years old. However I came to discover that not only was the film decent but I actually found myself on the edge of my seat.

Arrow Video are releasing the film here in the UK and with the cult status of the original I am sure that, like me, there will be many people questioning the film before viewing it.

As a fan of both the original and most of Eli Roths other work including Hostel, the Green Inferno and Knock Knock I was really excited to hear that he was involved in the film.

I can safely say that, although not brilliant, this version of Cabin fever is actually pretty decent. In fact I would go as far to say that there were certain elements of the remake that were an improvement on the original. Such as the score, the score in this film made it for me in the most brutal and intense scenes the score really heightened the tension for em and I found myself more invested in the story. Not saying that the original wasn’t suspenseful, just pointing out where the remake made a few slight changes.

Although given mainly a direct to DVD release and some limited theatrical releases in other countries the film is fairly well made. The atmosphere is strongly backed up from the setting the night time settling (of which the film is mainly set) really is a strong positive for the film. The way the film was shot though felt a little “Evil Dead” like. Especially the scene where we see the characters driving towards the cabin is very remonstrant of the opening sequence in Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead.

That brings me to my next point and my first negative. I felt that the film was not only playing on the story of the original but was also touching slightly on the story of Evil Dead. This could be mainly because for many years (until the actual Evil Dead Remake many horror fans and film fans saw Cabin Fever 2002 as a sort of Evil Dead reteling.

I felt that the film would have benefited from taking the Evil Dead 2013’s approach and had a slightly different story, although touching on the films main story points.

Overall I enjoyed the film for what it was and for those very few people who have never seen the original cabin fever I would say give this one a go it is certainly a good time. For those fo you however who are dedicated fans of the original you may want to go into this with an open mind as, like I said, the film is pretty much a scene by scene retelling, with a few minor changes here and there.

I am going to say Cabin Fever is a good time watch and is one to kick back and watch with friends.