When walking down the isle of a video store your first impressions of this movie may deceive you. Your looking at the box cover and one part of you is saying, "This looks like a rip of the House on the Edge of the Park cover." Well maybe, but the movies have no similarity. When I had first seen this movie advertised it didn't appeal to me whatsoever. I thought it was just another trendy horror movie that a big budget studio put out to rob people of their money. Once seeing this movie at a friends house I discovered just how wrong I really was. Like many reviewers say, "It was a wild ride!" Cabin fever has many tones, it can be scary, it can be creepy, it can be funny, and in several scenes can be just down right gross. This film is an instant classic. A perfect choice for watching with a female companion, you can show them how sick and demented you really are and let them enjoy this twisted little gem. For a post 90's horror film I think it is one of the few greats. I would compare the likes of this movie to that of House of 1,000 corpses or 28 Days later. The movie itself has the basic plot structure of any woodsy horror films. It has its taste of evil dead along with a bit of deliverance, it even feels a lot like the incredible melting man at times.

Cabin Fever is everything you could possibly want from the co-ed/camping/horror genre. And like the film itself, the DVD is a nice balance of comedy, camp, and gore, and filled with extras. The half-hour making-of documentary is fairly informative and witty, particularly for a lower-budgeted horror film. One of the highlights is seeing the great Angelo Badalamenti's (of David Lynch fame!) enthusiasm about his musical score. However, if you really want an insiders' view of the film, check out one of the four available commentaries (from the director, the "guys," the "girls," and the filmmakers). Also included are three shorts by director Eli Roth featuring his crass, clay animation series The Rotten Fruit. "Pancakes!" is a grainy, music video of a woman doing Kung Fu to "Electric Six" singing "Gay Bar." Not really sure where the flapjacks fit in, but it is amusing. "Chick-Vision," while sounding enticing, is merely another way to describe child blocked viewing. In closing, be sure to check out the G-rated "family version" of Cabin Fever: appropriately 1 minute and 13 seconds in length.