The question posed by this version of "Cabin Fever" is "why?" Why remake a relatively recent horror film that, while it was nicely done and announced the arrival of a filmmaker (Eli Roth) lots of people had high hopes for, wasn't particularly groundbreaking? I thought I would find the answer in watching the remake, but as fine as this iteration is, it doesn't quite manage to make a case for its existence in a world where the original is still relatively fresh. The cast, the direction, the effects, and the cinematography are not appreciably better nor worse than the original. The story is almost identical, with a few minor variations. (The local hard-partying deputy sheriff in this version has been gender swapped, but otherwise performs the same function as in the original.) The rough spots of the narrative have not been smoothed over -- in fact, they tend to stick out more here than they did before. Even in the original, the rapidly devolving situation the main characters found themselves in and their reactions to the threats they faced came off, at times, as a bit abrupt. That's true here as well, only more-so because the somewhat higher production values make this feel more naturalistic and realistic. The character contrivances stick out more, and the eccentric nature of the townsfolk our city- kid anti-heroes are surrounded by seem even less convincing than they did in the more stylized (and decidedly lower-budget) original.
This is fine. Anyone who really loved it the first time around might like to see roughly the same movie again with updated technology (which, of course, doesn't work, so it's really mostly useless). I liked the first movie and was mildly engaged by this. Everyone else can safely skip it, unless you think you can arrive at definitive reasons why the filmmakers even bothered.
This is fine. Anyone who really loved it the first time around might like to see roughly the same movie again with updated technology (which, of course, doesn't work, so it's really mostly useless). I liked the first movie and was mildly engaged by this. Everyone else can safely skip it, unless you think you can arrive at definitive reasons why the filmmakers even bothered.