The Fear of "Cabin Fever"

By Glenn Bossik
September 17, 2003

"Cabin Fever," a new film from Eli Roth, is a terrifying example of what can happen to five college students when they grapple with the question of whether to value survival over loyalty to each other.

While vacationing at a cabin in the woods, they encounter a man who is infected with a flesh-eating virus. The virus spreads to one of them--a young woman named Karen (Jordan Ladd)--and the rest of them quickly become more concerned about self-preservation than about her. The results of their behavior are violent and bloody, and soon we begin to wonder who will survive.

"Much of the horror of the film lies within how the characters treat each other …when faced with this awful disease," says Producer Lauren Moews, commenting on the characters' moral struggle.

Co-Producer Sam Froelich agrees, saying: "What I like most about the story is the exploration of people revealing their true selves in the midst of a crisis."

To make this fictional crisis seem believable, Writer/Director Eli Roth had the actors in "Cabin Fever" ( http://www.cabinfevermovie.com) develop friendships with each other that would mirror the friendships in the film.

He says that the members of the cast told each other stories about germ phobias during rehearsals.

Roth did much the same thing to create the premise of the screenplay. He says he used his experience of getting a skin infection at a horse farm in Iceland to come up with the original idea for "Cabin Fever."

He adds that Randy Pearlstein, the co-writer of the screenplay, helped refine the structure.

The result answers Eli Roth's main question about the horror genre: "What is terrifying?" 



Crew
Director/Producer: Eli Roth
Written By: Randy Pearlstein and Eli Roth
Story By: Eli Roth
Produced By: Lauren Moews, Sam Froelich, and Evan Astrowsky
Executive Producer: Susan Jackson
Co-Executive Producer: Jeffrey D. Hoffman
Editor: Ryan Folsey
Cinematographer: Scott Kevan
Music By: Nathan Barr
Special Make-Up FX By: Bob Kurtzman, Greg Nicotero, and Berger EFX Group
Production Designer: Franco Giacomo-Carbone
Costume Designer: Paloma Candelaria

Cast
Paul: Rider Strong
Karen: Jordan Ladd
Jeff: Joey Kern
Marcy: Cerina Vincent
Bert: James DeBello
The Hermit: Arie Verveen
Deputy Winston: Giuseppe Andrews