A cabin in the woods … one of the best Petri dishes for growing Horror cultures. For Episode 008 of Horror Movie Weekly, Lady Phantom has chosen to review the inexplicable remake, “Cabin Fever” (2016). Your hilarious late-night Horror hosts, your Triad of Terror — Jay of the Dead, BillChete and Lady Phantom — have some pretty funny debates surrounding the character actions in this infected narrative, including the veracity and validity of enjoying one last roll in the hay for the road when the chips are down. Plus, it’s humorous to hear Jay navigate through some surprisingly personal questions. We also discuss this film’s astoundingly unmerciful mercy killing — one for the ages. Join us!
Note: This review contains mild to moderate spoilers for a film that’s a fairly faithful remake of Eli Roth’s “Cabin Fever” (2002).
On Horror Movie Weekly, your late-night Horror hosts Jay of the Dead, BillChete and Lady Phantom bring you one recent Horror movie review every Sunday. (We’re defining “recent” as any Horror movie released within the last five years.) And we always reveal next week’s pick at the end of every show, so you can watch along with us and be prepared for the following episode. Join us, and thanks for listening!
SHOW NOTES:
Introduction
— Email from David in Houston, Texas
– Lady Phantom’s pick: Cabin Fever (2016)
Cabin Fever (2016) — Genre Classification: Horror | Infected
Premise:
Five friends — three guys and two gals — are stranded at a remote cabin in the woods during a little week-long vacation getaway, when they are exposed to a mysterious, highly infectious, flesh-eating disease.
Directed by Travis Zariwny (aka Travis Z). Starring Gage Golightly, Nadine Crocker, Samuel Davis, et al. Rated R for for horror violence and gore, language, sexuality, nudity and some drug use. Runtime: 1 hour, 39 min.
Ratings and Recommendations: Cabin Fever (2016)
Jay of the Dead = 5 ( Low-priority Rental )
BillChete = 3 ( Avoid )
Lady Phantom = 5 ( Stream on Netflix )
Next on Episode 009: Cruel Summer (2016) — Jay of the Dead’s pick
Podcast artwork: Lady Phantom
Original podcast theme music: Jay of the Dead
Links for this episode:
Follow us on Twitter: @horror_weekly
Website: Horror Movie Weekly.com
Follow Lady Phantom on Twitter: @LadyPhantom74
Jay of the Dead’s film blog / solocast: ConsideringTheCinema.com
Jay’s HORROR-only content: ConsideringHorrorCinema.com
Pyles Digital Media Podcast Production Services: Email Natalie at [email protected]
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This was such a funny episode… Jay finding himself in hot water and showing his true colours 🙂 “She was on her way out.” Then Bill Chete asking Jay “Could you get it up there Jay!?”
Now why did Lady Phantom pick this movie, again?
In my defense, I first watched it on a less than ideal screen, so the effects looked much better. I just remembered liking it, and since it was on Netflix, I thought it was worth rewatching. Oh well… lol
It’s worth pointing out that this movie uses the same script as the first movie. The dialogue and characters and everything are the same. The most interesting thing it does (which is damning with faint praise, and is not that interesting in and of itself) is that it changes the gender of the party-animal deputy from male to female. That really doesn’t amount to much of anything, but it’s something…I guess.
The experimental nature of using the same script but using different actors and changing the tone could have been something worthy, but it’s not since there’s no real talent involved in this production.
I don’t particularly care for the original, but the semi-comedic tone at least makes some of it watchable in the first act. This one just drains any entertainment value out of it by taking the script of an obviously intentionally absurd movie with more comedic-than-serious dialogue and tries to play it straight.
This latest episode of horror movie weekly about cabin fever is hilarious & the funniest one so far. I totally did not expect to hear jay of the dead defending a gratuitous out of nowhere sex scene while bill chete being against it so color me shocked. I guess bill chete isn’t my horror spirit animal after all lol. You guys have made me totally wanna watch this movie now when before i had no interest so good job on that. I also forget what’s happened in movies too like the supposedly great pool scene in the strangers 2 which i totally can’t remember what happened. Jay will you be on horror movie podcast top 10 films of 2019 episode? Anyway I’m very happy you are all back to podcasting about horror movies. Keep up the great work!
Lol… thank you for your comment.
Yeah, watch it and tell us what you think; you may hate it, but then again, you may not.
I’m not against sex scenes in movies either, but they have to serve a purpose, or at the very least not be completely illogical… but that’s just me.
Thanks again, and keep listening!
You’re welcome & i don’t need my sex scenes to serve a purpose lol. I totally forgot i even wanted to see this movie which shows how bad my memory is so putting it on right now so thanks for the reminder! Definitely going to keep listening so keep up the great work…Tony
Also…
It’s worth noting that while they used Eli Roth’s exact same script and he is listed as a producer, he actually didn’t have anything to do with this movie and is a producer in name only. So bad writing can sort of be blamed on him, but music and visual choices cannot. Not this time at least. There’s plenty of blame to throw at him for the original though.
Hey guys, it’s been a busy week, but this was a hilarious episode for sure.
Going in, I understood that this is an infection story being told. The dynamics of the group seemed off from the get go. The writing in this film was terrible. They all seemed concerned about proximity and maintaining safe protocols, and yet they make decisions that contradict those concerns completely. They make the decision to isolate the blond girl, which was unnecessary and cruel. If her boyfriend actually cared about her, he would have stayed with her or left to find help. In fact, once the infection is apparent, that is what they should all be doing; looking for help, because of course, no mobile phone connectivity.
When the infected guy comes to the cabin and tries to steal the car, because you always leave the keys in the ignition. And they attack the vehicle?? So they damage the car in trying to get rid of the infected guy. Yeah, that makes total sense. What about the dog? They had multiple opportunities to kill the dog and for whatever reason, they don’t. Which of course has consequences later. And how about that rifle with endless ammunition? Apparently, that gun comes with a magic magazine that never runs out of bullets.
The sex scene. This was very funny and I was laughing out loud listening to the podcast. Because of course, that’s what you would do in this situation, have sex. Again, terrible writing. I agree that the blond girl’s boyfriend would not make that decision, and none of them would. Not in an infected situation. Here is some additional insight. When you have infection cases, there are the infected that show obvious signs of the infection and then there are “carriers”, or those who are infected, but do not show signs of the infection. The blond girl’s boyfriend was infected, but he was a carrier.
When the two of them have sex, you see the aftermath of that encounter when she stumbles out of the cabin naked. The film makers show you this so that you can see the pronounced infection sites on her body, in the same locations where he would engage with her during sex, which is why that imagery is so disturbing. He scratches her on the back and you see an immediate visual response to that. You see her chest, you see between her legs etc. It’s very unpleasant.
The “mercy killing”. This was absurd. I was yelling at my computer, “you are such an asshole!!”. There is no way this occurs. You pick up the heaviest object available (a large rock), and you smash her head with it. You do not use a shovel to the mouth and you don’t set her on fire, because you know, complaining about immolation is the sure fire way to get someone to pour accelerant on you and set you on fire.
The blond deputy was a dumpster fire. And by the way, you make sure you shoot them at first sight. We don’t have a confirmation on an infection by medical professionals or what that might be if it is, and we don’t have any other details to confirm, but go ahead and shoot them when you see them anyway, just in case. This is standard law enforcement protocol, so don’t argue.
The kid in the bunny mask wasn’t infected even though he had direct blood to mouth contact. not once, but twice. They reveal the source of the infection is the water supply, so why isn’t everyone infected in that local community? They all drank the local water.
So many plot holes and deficient writing, that you get a film with so many mistakes. I agree that the practical effects showing the infection was good. The performances and characters were substandard. The ending was poor as well. This movie is a 4/10 and an avoid.
Jay has chosen Cruel Summer from 2016 as the next film, ignoring Dr. Shock’s sound advise. I agree that when someone tells you to avoid a film because it is so distasteful, you want to see that film that garnered that reaction. In this case, reading the synopsis on IMDB, I think Dave is probably right on this movie. I doubt any of us will have “fun” watching this one. It is called “Cruel Summer”. I have not seen this movie, but I trust Dr. Shock here. If the film ends up being too cruel in its depictions, I will drop out of the movie and won’t finish it. Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that.
I am looking forward to Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse this weekend. I have been waiting all year to see the follow-up to The Witch from 2015. Robert Pattinson and William Dafoe look to survive their assignment and each other in this highly anticipated film. It should be a blast of a good time.
Thanks again for the funny episode and have a great rest of the week,
Sean
Just watched it and i really liked it! Better than the original. I liked the main characters. Hot chicks with good sex so that’s definitely a bonus. Some very good gore. Dog at the end looked scary as heck. When he hits blondie in the face but doesn’t kill her that looked cool as heck. Dug how the movie made me feel at the end with the dread. Some things to nitpick but i wont. I think its one of the better horror remakes & give it a 6/10 though doubt I’ll watch it again. Again guys great episode & good pick lady phantom!
Glad you liked it, Tony!
Thanks phantom!