Cabin Fever 2002

A woodsman discovers his canine friend has been ravaged by a vile flesh-eating virus. Cut to carload of loud, crass and nubile college kids heading that-a-way for a week of heavy partying at a rental cabin. Need we say more? Riffing on every great splatter classic, first-time director Eli Roth reanimates the midnight movie limb by festering limb. The jokes flow as thick and fast as the spurting blood. It’s a blatant bid for cult immortality and Roth has the killer chops to get away with it. An NYU graduate, he has worked with David Lynch. He acts as well, putting in a tidy signature appearance as a back-packing, extreme-sports stoner. — BG

“Gory, scary, smart and funny, this is definitely one of the best horror films I’ve seen in years. While it plays kinda like Texas Chainsaw, it also comes with plenty of its own ingredients, so that this is in no way a rip-off, but a successful tribute of sorts and the meaty Texas Chainsaw flavoring is to die for.” — Eric Campos, Film Threat