Cabin
Fever
An Interview
With Director Eli Roth
Being the new jack stepping onto
the scene when the horror genre is essentially dying, Eli Roth’s
main mission is to revive it and return it to its Late 70’s
early 80’s peak. And just because he is the new kid on the
block, don’t think he is going to bite his tongue when it
comes to speaking candidly about certain topics, especially when
it comes to the stale horror films of the 1990’s (Look out
“Wrong Turn”!)
Upon meeting Eli Roth you wouldn’t
even know he is an up and coming director. He’s pretty laid
back and speaks to you as if you were his good friend. He even
had on a Statler and Waldorf Muppet T-Shirt, and anyone who likes
those two cranky Muppets is cool with me. Eli has an extreme amount
of energy and enthusiasm (our conversation covered a wide array
of topics.)
Here are his thoughts on the state
of the horror film today. And be forewarned Mr. Roth doesn’t
hold back when it comes to using profanity.
 Eli
Roth: "Horror films are at a crisis point right
now, In the 70’s you had such great directors, you had like
Stanley Kubrick, William Freidken, Philip Kaufman, Ridley Scott,
Richard Donner, all stepping into the horror genre and saying
“I’m gonna make a horror film, it’s going to
be a well made, smart, big budget movie, we’re going to
get the best actors, and the best special effects” and you
had “The Omen”, “The Exorcist”, “The
Shining”, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” “Alien”
all great movies. Then you have a whole wave of these younger
filmmakers like Tobe Hooper, Wes Craven, George Romero, John Carpenter,
all like kicking down the door of Hollywood saying, “These
are our movies and this is what scares us!” Everyone was
coming from a place of what scares us."
"Then in the
80’s the “Slasher” movies killed it. I love
slasher films but then it became about “How can we kill
the kids this time.” Nobody’s thinking about what’s
scary anymore. Then in 1985 Schwarzenegger takes over everyone
and everything and is the biggest star in the world, and every
time he killed someone he made a pun. And audiences are like “YEAH!
He killed somebody and made a joke! That’s awesome!”
And then that bled over to the horror genre, and then you have
Freddy Kreuger saying things like “Have a knife day!”
or “Don’t lose your head.” At the end of the
80’s horror movies were a joke."
Eli continued about the horror
films of the 90’s and today.
Eli Roth: "By
1991, Horror Movies are dead. And that’s when I’m
in film school I’m like “Yeah I wanna make horror
movies.” And people are like “Nobody likes Horror
Movies anymore.” I’m like “No people like horror
movies, it’s that just we haven’t had a good one.”
Then “Scream” comes out, and it reinvents the genre,
and everyone is like “Thank You!” It’s so smart
because the kids in “Scream” understand and have seen
other horror movies. Unfortunately, what happens now is you get
“I Know What You Did Last Summer”, “Urban Legend
2”, like all these crappy, crappy, awful horror movies where
they have TV stars that say, “I wanna be like Neve Campbell
and use a horror movie as my vehicle to get famous. But I have
a young fan base so I’m not going to do nudity during the
sex scenes. So you have this pussy-ass, fucking neutered, castrated
horror movies that suck! If I see a TV Actor, if I see a fucking
hot girl TV Actress in an R rated movie and she doesn’t
fucking show her tits in the sex scene I’m pissed off, I’m
out of the movie, I feel ripped off. When I go see “Wrong
Turn” and these 3 hillbillies that are so inbred they fuck
each other, and they have Eliza Dushku tied up on the bed and
they don’t rip her fucking clothes off! It’s like
what the fuck is this? What happened to the teen horror movie?"
 Eli
mentioned how he had a horrible addiction to the TV show “Dawson’s
Creek.” (Hey I was there too right until the end of Season
2, and then I realized what I was doing and acted like the show
did not exist anymore.) Eli had some things to say about “Dawson’s
Creek” star Katie Holmes and her chest baring scenes in
the film “The Gift.”
Eli Roth: "I
Love Katie Holmes, that’s why we love Katie Holmes, she
showed the boobs in “The Gift” that’s why she’s
the only one breaking out as a movie star. The fucking fans respect
her cause she showed her tits in a fuck scene."
Eli then spoke about how studio
execs are afraid to attach the label “Horror Film”
to a horror movie.
Eli Roth: “The
Sixth Sense” comes along and I’m like “This
is a fucking great horror movie” and it makes 300 Million
Dollars, and it’s paced like a horror movie, it’s
2 and a half hours, it moves at a snails pace, and everyone goes
crazy for it because it’s terrifying. And the studios go
“Wait, wait, wait, it’s not a horror film, it’s
a Supernatural Thriller.” Well what the fuck does that mean.
I’ll tell you what it means, it means a marketing executive
realized that “Silence of the Lambs” said, “Were
a Thriller.” and they won every Oscar. And “Misery”
is like “Yeah were a Thriller too!” and Kathy Bates
won the Oscar. Thrillers are made by smart people, morons make
horror films. Then all of a sudden these great horror movies come
out and we are no longer allowed to call them horror films. So
you have Danny Boyle doing press for “28 Day’s Later”
and he’s like “Yeah it’s a Viral Thriller.”
And Fox Searchlight’s like “It’s a Viral Thriller.”
It’s like “Really? Cause the last 3rd of that movie
is “Day of the Dead” and so much of that movie is
stolen from “Dawn of the Dead” and “Day of the
Triffids” don’t fucking tell me that’s a thriller,
it’s like spitting in my face. To call “28 Days Later”
a thriller is a slap in the face to all horror fans. But it’s
a great movie, it’s a scary movie, I really enjoyed it.
But no one will call it a horror film because it’s like
saying you’re a pornographer. As soon as you say horror,
people immediately think “B – Straight to Video Piece
of Crap”, because why? Well look what we’ve got “13
Ghosts”, “Ghost Ship”, and “Wrong Turn.”
These movies are fucking awful. They are unacceptable. We have
to have a higher standard of better horror films. Now is “Cabin
Fever” the answer to everything? No, I’m not saying
it is but it’s like you gotta try, you gotta go out and
make the effort.
 Eli
went on to explain what he set out to do with “Cabin Fever.”
And he also explained just how he intends to help out the guys
who see this film on a date with their ladies.
Eli Roth: "I
went out there and said, “I wanna make a movie that’s
going to be a throwback to “Evil Dead” to “Texas
Chainsaw Massacre.” I wanna make an old school, blood and
guts, violent, R rated, teens in the woods horror film. Where
they have sex with their clothes off. And where a lot of people
die, and the people you want to live probably aren’t going
to. And it’s going to be a disturbing, fucked up, sick,
crazy roller coaster. Because people forget horror movies are
the best date movies. You have a better chance of getting laid
taking a girl to see “Cabin Fever” than you do “How
To Lose A Guy In 10 Days.” And here’s why, in “How
To Lose A Guy In 10 Days” you’re thinking, “When
do I put my arm around her?” Well in “Cabin Fever”
every 2 minutes I am giving you an opportunity to put your hand
on a girls knee, to put your head in his chest, to grab his arm.
If you are not sitting on each other ‘s lap, if you don’t
get laid after seeing “Cabin Fever” you are pathetic!
Because you come out the theater and the girl is like “I’m
so scared, I don’t wanna sleep alone.” That’s
when you invite her to your place. Say “Come over, we’ll
watch Willy Wonka.” And you seal the deal. Bump, set, spike.
That’s what horror movies are about. I want an orgy of blood
and sex in the theater."
 Now
onto the nightmare of casting that takes us back to the female
nudity topic.
Eli Roth: "Casting
the film was kind of a nightmare. Finding a girl that would do
nudity in a horror movie was a nightmare. You can’t even
imagine. These girls you see them in Maxim and FHM and they be
in these photo shoots covering their nipples with dental floss
bikini’s with their legs spread. And you bring them in and
they are like “I’m not going to do nudity and the
sex scene” and I’m like “Why not?” and
they are like “That’s exploitation.” And it’s
like “Really? So you’re saying that your 7-page spread
in Stuff of you covered in oil, rolling around in dental floss,
that’s high art. But this 30-second sex scene in a movie
to show that you are actually a real couple, so that when you
break up later it actually means something. That’s exploitation?”
And it’s all because it’s a horror movie."
Eli is next working on a Teen
Sex Comedy where he intends to revive that ailing genre that has
been American Pie’d out and bring it back to it’s
“Porky’s” heyday. He also is working with another
rising director, Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) on an upcoming project.
It seems that Eli has a lot of things in motion working in his
favor.
Meeting Eli Roth was undoubtedly
an experience to remember. He has equal parts of talent and passion
toward his work that is welcome to see in these days where directors
just make movies to cash a paycheck. He is passionate about his
craft and it’s cool to know that first and foremost Eli
is a huge fan of the horror genre.
I’m sure with him gaining
popularity with the fans of the horror genre coupled with his
new commitment to make and produce quality horror films each year
going forward, he will gain his own spot along side the great
horror directors that he admires.
“Cabin Fever”
opens on September 12th
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