Swan's 2017 Movie Adventures

Cabin Fever -
(Travis Z, 2016)

[NEW WATCH]



A hugely awkward and cringe-y miscalculation. I don’t really care about the fact that it’s pointless, which seems to be everyone’s biggest criticism. It is, sure, and I’m not saying that criticism isn’t appropriate. But I think a remake can be pointless and still be good. I don’t hate remakes, just bad ones. My biggest problem with this one is how it took everything great about the original - notably the humor, oddness and immense personality - and completely removed it all in an attempt for a more straight, serious horror film. That’s not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, this isn’t the first time that’s been attempted, except that it’s practically word-for-word the same otherwise (with some important distinctions that did nothing to improve it). It’s just awkward seeing a scene play out almost exactly like the original except everything good about how it played out in Roth’s version is taken out. The characters here are these issues personified. Completely bland and stale versions of the original cast, reading the lines with no personality involved.

I’ve seen the original too many times to count, and am a big fan, which may have something to do with how noticeable all this was for me. I’m a big fan of Roth too, but his cinematic profile is not flawless. The first thing I ever disliked that he was involved in was The Green Inferno. Producing this might be an even bigger offense. He's still mah g though.