Cabin Fever (2002) – WTF Happened to This Horror Movie?

It’s time for another episode of the WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? video series, and with this one we’re preparing for director Eli Roth’s long-awaited slasher Thanksgiving – which reaches theatres this Friday, November 17th – by looking back at his 2002 feature debut Cabin Fever (watch it HERE). To hear all about it, check out the video embedded above.

Directed by Roth from a screenplay he wrote with Randy Pearlstein, Cabin Fever has the following synopsis: Bert, a college student vacationing with friends in the mountains, mistakenly shoots a local man with a skin infection while hunting in the woods. Panicking, he abandons the scene and leaves the man for dead. When the man stumbles into a reservoir, he infects the water supply, and soon one of Bert’s friends becomes infected. The friends struggle to stop the contagious, flesh-eating disease while on the run from a group of ornery backwoods locals out for revenge.

The film stars Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern, Arie Verveen, Giuseppe Andrews, and Robert Harris, with a cameo appearance by Roth himself.

This is what the WTF Happened to This Horror Movie series is all about: Hollywood has had its fair share of historically troubled productions. Whether it was casting changes, actor deaths, fired directors, in-production rewrites, constant delays, budget cuts or studio edits, these films had every intention to be a blockbuster, but were beset with unforeseen disasters. Sometimes huge hits, sometimes box office bombs. Either way, we have to ask: WTF Happened To This Horror Movie?

The Cabin Fever (2002) episode of WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? was Written, Narrated, and Edited by Tyler Nichols, Produced by Lance Vlcek and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

A couple of the previous episodes of the show can be seen below. To see more, head over to our JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channel – and subscribe while you’re there!

Are you a fan of Cabin Fever (2002), and what did you think of this episode of WTF Happened to This Horror Movie? Let us know by leaving a comment.