# Cabin Fever (2002 film)
**Cabin Fever** is a 2002 American horror film directed by [Eli Roth](https://www.edgepedia.org/eli-roth), from a screenplay he wrote with Randy Pearlstein, about five college graduates whose cabin vacation collapses when one of them contracts a flesh-eating virus.[1](https://www.ihorrordb.com/titles/3670/cabin-fever) Made for $1.5 million without stars or studio backing, it was bought by Lions Gate after its first midnight screening at the 2002 [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival) and released theatrically in the United States on September 12, 2003, grossing $21.2 million domestically and more than $30 million worldwide.[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0303816/credits/) • [3](https://www.screendaily.com/lions-gate-international-brings-cabin-fever-to-market/4010966.article) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1125409-cabin_fever) • [5](https://vindyarchives.com/news/2006/jan/05/hostel-tells-a-very-hostile-tale/) It was Roth's directorial debut and launched his career as a horror director.[6](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-aug-16-ca-roth16-story.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | Eli Roth, directing for the first time; screenplay by Roth and Randy Pearlstein[1](https://www.ihorrordb.com/titles/3670/cabin-fever) |
| Budget | $1.5 million[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0303816/credits/) |
| Principal cast | Jordan Ladd, Rider Strong, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern, and Arie Verveen[3](https://www.screendaily.com/lions-gate-international-brings-cabin-fever-to-market/4010966.article) |
| Festival sale | Screened at Toronto in September 2002; Lions Gate bought it after its first midnight screening[3](https://www.screendaily.com/lions-gate-international-brings-cabin-fever-to-market/4010966.article) |
| Theatrical release | September 12, 2003, wide, rated R, 94 minutes[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1125409-cabin_fever) • [7](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/62655-CABIN-FEVER) |
| Box office | $21.2 million gross in the United States; more than $30 million worldwide[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1125409-cabin_fever) • [5](https://vindyarchives.com/news/2006/jan/05/hostel-tells-a-very-hostile-tale/) |
| Critical scores | Metascore 56 from 31 reviews; 62% on the Tomatometer from 140 reviews[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/cabin-fever/critic-reviews/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1125409-cabin_fever) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Five college friends, Paul, Karen, Bert, Marcy, and Jeff, rent an isolated cabin in the woods for a post-graduation vacation. A hermit (Arie Verveen) infected with a mysterious disease approaches them for help; they panic and burn him, and he dies in the water reservoir, contaminating the water supply. When Karen ([Jordan Ladd](https://www.edgepedia.org/jordan-ladd)) drinks tap water and contracts the flesh-eating disease, the group's cohesion collapses into paranoia, quarantine attempts, and violence, while backwoods locals close in on them.[9](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/cabin-fever/2030063352/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1125409-cabin_fever)
Roth described the design of the story in an interview with MovieMaker: there is no visible monster like Freddy or Jason, the virus itself is the villain, and the characters become the monsters as they turn on the infected.[10](https://www.moviemaker.com/lowbudget-horror-film-a-careermaker-for-firsttime-moviemaker/)
## Origins and writing
Roth wrote the story in 1993, when he was 22, and finished the script afterward; he has said that studios and producers repeatedly passed on it, objecting that there was no conventional killer and that the story left little room for a sequel.[11](https://www.joblo.com/interview-eli-roth-2/) • [12](https://www.slashfilm.com/1395467/cabin-fever-box-office/) • [10](https://www.moviemaker.com/lowbudget-horror-film-a-careermaker-for-firsttime-moviemaker/) The premise drew on his own experience of contracting a skin infection during a trip to Iceland.[13](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303816/faq/) • [3](https://www.screendaily.com/lions-gate-international-brings-cabin-fever-to-market/4010966.article)
It took six years to raise the financing. After the dot-com collapse of 2000 wiped out the company that had been funding the project, producer Evan Astrowsky proposed making the film independently; half the money fell out just before shooting, and the production shot in North Carolina in the fall of 2001, a month after the [September 11 attacks](https://www.edgepedia.org/september-11-attacks), when little was filming on the East Coast. A union shutdown interrupted the shoot, and Roth edited two thirds of the film to raise the remaining money, completing financing in the spring of 2002.[14](https://lionsgatelimited.com/blogs/cabin-fever/cabin-fever-by-eli-roth) • [10](https://www.moviemaker.com/lowbudget-horror-film-a-careermaker-for-firsttime-moviemaker/)
## Sale and release
At the Toronto Film Festival in September 2002 the film became the surprise horror hit of the festival, prompting a bidding war among studios that had earlier rejected the script. Lions Gate acquired it after its first midnight screening; MovieMaker reported the sale at $3.5 million along with a promised wide theatrical release and an additional $15 million in advertising and promotion, and Roth later described Lions Gate as committing to the widest theatrical release in the company's history at that time.[10](https://www.moviemaker.com/lowbudget-horror-film-a-careermaker-for-firsttime-moviemaker/) • [3](https://www.screendaily.com/lions-gate-international-brings-cabin-fever-to-market/4010966.article) • [1](https://www.ihorrordb.com/titles/3670/cabin-fever) • [14](https://lionsgatelimited.com/blogs/cabin-fever/cabin-fever-by-eli-roth) Lions Gate Films International acquired international rights in October 2002 and planned the domestic release for the second half of 2003.[3](https://www.screendaily.com/lions-gate-international-brings-cabin-fever-to-market/4010966.article)
The film opened wide in the United States on September 12, 2003, and its success, together with strong home video sales, transformed Roth from an outsider into a go-to young director within months.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1125409-cabin_fever) • [5](https://vindyarchives.com/news/2006/jan/05/hostel-tells-a-very-hostile-tale/)
## David Lynch's involvement
[David Lynch](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-lynch), with whom Roth had worked as a protégé, supported the film and served as executive producer, but asked that his name be removed from the credits. Roth recounted that Lynch told him that a "David Lynch presents" credit would deprive Roth of recognition for six years of work and make it harder for him to establish himself.[15](https://as.com/meristation/cine/el-noble-motivo-por-el-que-david-lynch-no-quiso-aparecer-acreditado-en-cabin-fever-el-terrorifico-debut-de-eli-roth-f202601-n/)
## Reception
Critical response was mixed. The film holds a Metascore of 56 based on 31 reviews, categorized as mixed or average, and a 62% Tomatometer score from 140 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/cabin-fever/critic-reviews/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1125409-cabin_fever) Reviewers divided over its blend of horror and comedy: Film Threat's Eric Campos called it "gory, scary, smart and funny" and one of the best horror films in years, while Roger Ebert, the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) critic from 1967 until his death in 2013, wrote that the film was unsure whether it wanted to be a horror film, a comedy, a homage, a satire, or a parable, and that it kept breaking its plague-story mood with humor involving the locals.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/cabin-fever/critic-reviews/) • [16](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cabin-fever-2003) Variety's Dennis Harvey wrote that the film seldom stuck with any one tactic, uncertain between straight suspense and gross-out effects.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/cabin-fever/critic-reviews/) The film was nominated for a 2004 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film.[9](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/cabin-fever/2030063352/)
The film's tone has been read as an early-2000s horror-comedy that pays tribute to 1970s horror without parodying it; Roth said his key was to make the film both funny and scary.[17](https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3602731/revenge-remakes-cabin-fever-2002-vs-cabin-fever-2016/) • [10](https://www.moviemaker.com/lowbudget-horror-film-a-careermaker-for-firsttime-moviemaker/)
## Legacy and sequels
The success of Cabin Fever led Lions Gate to green-light further Roth projects and established him as a leading figure in the resurgence of practical, R-rated American horror in the early 2000s.[18](https://irishgothicjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/filmc2a0reviews2.pdf) • [1](https://www.ihorrordb.com/titles/3670/cabin-fever) It was followed by *[Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever](https://www.edgepedia.org/cabin-fever-2-spring-fever)* (2009), directed by [Ti West](https://www.edgepedia.org/ti-west), in which the virus spreads at a high school graduation party, and *Cabin Fever: Patient Zero* (2014).[19](https://as.com/meristation/cine/la-graduacion-de-estos-chavales-se-convirtio-en-un-infierno-en-la-secuela-de-la-terrorifica-cabin-fever-el-clasico-de-culto-de-eli-roth-f202605-n/) • [13](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303816/faq/) A 2016 remake directed by Travis Zariwny used Roth's original shooting script almost unchanged, with Roth as executive producer; critics received it poorly, with The Guardian calling it "astounding in its lameness" and reviewers noting that it stripped the original's humor and charm.[17](https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3602731/revenge-remakes-cabin-fever-2002-vs-cabin-fever-2016/) • [20](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/may/12/cabin-fever-review-horror-remake-astounding-in-its-lameness)
## Production credits
The [American Film Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-film-institute) catalog credits Scott Kevan as director of photography, Ryan Folsey as editor, and Franco-Giacomo Carbone as production designer; the producers were Sam Froelich, Evan Astrowsky, Lauren Moews, and Roth, with Susan Jackson as executive producer.[7](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/62655-CABIN-FEVER) • [3](https://www.screendaily.com/lions-gate-international-brings-cabin-fever-to-market/4010966.article) The two catalog sources disagree on the composer: Screen Daily credits [Angelo Badalamenti](https://www.edgepedia.org/angelo-badalamenti), a collaborator of Lynch, while the AFI catalog lists Nathan Barr.[3](https://www.screendaily.com/lions-gate-international-brings-cabin-fever-to-market/4010966.article) • [7](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/62655-CABIN-FEVER)
## References
1. [Cabin Fever (2003), IHorrorDB](https://www.ihorrordb.com/titles/3670/cabin-fever)
2. [Cabin Fever (2002) credits, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0303816/credits/)
3. [Lions Gate International brings Cabin Fever to market, Screen Daily (Mike Goodridge, October 28, 2002)](https://www.screendaily.com/lions-gate-international-brings-cabin-fever-to-market/4010966.article)
4. [Cabin Fever, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1125409-cabin_fever)
5. ['Hostel' tells a very hostile tale, Vindy Archives (2006)](https://vindyarchives.com/news/2006/jan/05/hostel-tells-a-very-hostile-tale/)
6. [Eli Roth: I barely survived Tarantino, Los Angeles Times (2009)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-aug-16-ca-roth16-story.html)
7. [Cabin Fever (2003), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/62655-CABIN-FEVER)
8. [Cabin Fever critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/cabin-fever/critic-reviews/)
9. [Cabin Fever, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/cabin-fever/2030063352/)
10. [Low-Budget Horror Film a Career-maker for first-time moviemaker, MovieMaker Magazine](https://www.moviemaker.com/lowbudget-horror-film-a-careermaker-for-firsttime-moviemaker/)
11. [INT: Eli Roth, JoBlo](https://www.joblo.com/interview-eli-roth-2/)
12. [20 Years Ago, The Low Budget Box Office Hit Cabin Fever Launched Eli Roth's Career, SlashFilm](https://www.slashfilm.com/1395467/cabin-fever-box-office/)
13. [Cabin Fever (2002) FAQ, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0303816/faq/)
14. [Cabin Fever by Eli Roth, Lionsgate Limited](https://lionsgatelimited.com/blogs/cabin-fever/cabin-fever-by-eli-roth)
15. [El noble motivo por el que David Lynch no quiso aparecer acreditado en 'Cabin Fever', MeriStation (AS)](https://as.com/meristation/cine/el-noble-motivo-por-el-que-david-lynch-no-quiso-aparecer-acreditado-en-cabin-fever-el-terrorifico-debut-de-eli-roth-f202601-n/)
16. [Cabin Fever movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/cabin-fever-2003)
17. [Revenge of the Remakes: Cabin Fever (2002) vs. Cabin Fever (2016), Bloody Disgusting](https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3602731/revenge-remakes-cabin-fever-2002-vs-cabin-fever-2016/)
18. [Film reviews, Irish Gothic Journal](https://irishgothicjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/filmc2a0reviews2.pdf)
19. [La graduación de estos chavales se convirtió en un infierno en la secuela de 'Cabin Fever', MeriStation (AS)](https://as.com/meristation/cine/la-graduacion-de-estos-chavales-se-convirtio-en-un-infierno-en-la-secuela-de-la-terrorifica-cabin-fever-el-clasico-de-culto-de-eli-roth-f202605-n/)
20. [Cabin Fever review – horror remake astounding in its lameness, The Guardian (Peter Bradshaw, 2016)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/may/12/cabin-fever-review-horror-remake-astounding-in-its-lameness)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Comedy horror films › 2000s and 2010s comedy horror films*
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