Cabin Fever
Lions Gate Films | Release Date: September 12, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
9
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Film ThreatEric Campos
Gory, scary, smart and funny, this is definitely one of the best horror films I’ve seen in years. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Completely -- and quite cleverly -- contrived, a cascade of stupid mistakes and miscommunication stirred into a visceral stew of gooey blisters and flaying layers of bloody flesh. Read full review
80
Film ThreatKevin Carr
While Cabin Fever takes its horror very seriously, it still shows that it has a sense of humor. Read full review
80
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Roth never fully exploits the woods around him, and the homes of the locals are far too middle-class, but because so many clichés are discarded amid the flesh rot, even the patented "Night of the Living Dead" coda feels sharp-edged and genuine. Read full review
80
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Sustains such a palpable mood of foreboding until the end. Read full review
75
PremiereGlenn Kenny
It plays on your knowledge of/expectations about generic horror movies and then either delivers the goods from an unexpected angle or pulls the rug out from under you. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
First-time director Eli Roth turns this cheapie into a greatest-hits of horror. It's a blast of good gory fun that just won't quit. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
If this story has a moral -- though unlike many horror films, it doesn't seem to -- it's that humans are likelier to destroy themselves than help each other. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
A ferociously entertaining and mean little horror movie that achieves the kind of outrageous vibe best enjoyed in a crowded, noisy theater. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Roth, who has taken more than a few cues from Raimi, David Lynch (whom Roth worked with), and George Romero (Night of the Living Dead), is working in a horror tradition that goes way back -- and he's working it with nasty glee. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
So this is a first-level, unironic fright film, the sort whose tongue is removed from its cheek, coated in gore, and pointed right at the audience. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Cabin Fever may not be a horror classic, but it's definitely an ideal midnight movie. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
A refreshingly old-fashioned splatter movie. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Ultimately, Cabin Fever isn't going to win any awards for originality - it's too busy twisting the conventions of the genre back in on themselves for that - but it does provide a jarring battery of scares (often depressing ones at that) that make it severed-head-and-shoulders above the spate of recent shockers. Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
A disciple of David Lynch's, Roth packs his story with horror, humor, hillbillies and sex. Roth caps his fast-moving story with a joke that's as oddly left-field as it is funny, but truth to tell, it is funny. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Other than a few witty jokes and a game cast, there's nothing particularly special here. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
While many films of this kind are undermined by amateurish performances, the main cast is solid and some of the supporting performances (many from non-professionals) are small gems. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Roth puts a sardonic spin on the puritanism of the 80s slasher. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A big, dumb, crude, noisy, goose-the-audience bash and proud of it. It's not nearly as unsettling as ''28 Days Later.'' Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
As a thriller, Cabin Fever falls short, filled with characters so obnoxiously stupid that just watching their skin slowly melt off doesn't seem like enough punishment. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
Maybe Roth was too busy paying tribute to all his childhood influences to take the necessary steps, but even in this uneasy era of SARS and other airborne horrors, his flesh-eating virus movie never convincingly gets under the skin. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
Hypochondriacs and germ freaks may dig it. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It's so by-the-numbers and clumsy that it will only appeal to that little sect that's managed to wear out their "Evil Dead," "Friday the 13th," "Halloween" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" DVDs. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Doesn't have the gonzo wit of ''Re-Animator'' or ''Evil Dead 2,'' nor is it flat-out terrifying like ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' or even a zombie-come-lately like this year's ''28 Days Later.'' Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
The result is something neither scary nor funny. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie adds up to a few good ideas and a lot of bad ones, wandering around in search of an organizing principle. Read full review
30
VarietyDennis Harvey
Uncertain whether to go for straight suspense or gross-out effects, genre in-joking or schlock cinema-of-parodic-excess, Eli Roth's backwoods horror opus Cabin Fever seldom sticks with any one tactic. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
Rather than steep his story in dread, ideas or something, anything, fresh and different, first-time director Eli Roth just pours on the blood, along with some recycled surrealism and plenty of giddy movie allusions. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
This movie may appeal to the youthful, midnight-madness crowd, but there isn't enough in it to bestow it with classic B-movie glory. Read full review
30
Washington PostStephen Hunter
It's just a loud, derivative grade-Z horror film of no particular distinction. Read full review
25
Chicago TribuneEllen Fox
It's just a watery, undeservedly smug update of the low-budget, kids-stranded-in-the-sticks bloodfests of the 1970s and '80s. Read full review
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