While this weekend we brought you brief interview from BC, beyond the break you’ll find a full-blown feature article for Lionsgate’s Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (read BC’s review). Bloody Disgusting’s Chris Eggertsen hit up the red carpet premiere of the event, which took place this past weekend as part of the Screamfest Horror Film Festival. Below you’ll find the skinny that features a whole bunch of interviews and a few pics from the carpet.
‘Cabin Fever’, Eli Roth’s stomach-churning homage to the exploitation horror films of the `70s and `80s, surprised industry observers in 2003 when it managed to gross over $30 million worldwide after being shot on a measly $1.5 million budget. At the time, it was a welcome change of pace from the tiresome post-‘Scream’ era of the late `90s/early `00s, where the teen characters invariably spouted irony-laden, self-conscious dialogue in films that began to feel less like horror movies than extended episodes of ‘Dawson’s Creek’. Where was the grime? Where was the gore? Horror fans were in desperate need of a new direction, and ‘Cabin Fever’ provided that.

Fast-forward six years. The ‘Saw’ franchise has long since passed its expiration date (which of course isn’t stopping the producers from churning out the sequels), the ‘Hostel’ series seems headed for an endless succession of direct-to-DVD follow-ups (minus Eli Roth), Rob Zombie has brought his grungy Red State-aesthetic to two ‘Halloween’ remakes, and fan boys everywhere got a serious kick in the ass with the one-two shot of ‘Grindhouse’, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s brilliant double-feature homage to the exploitation flicks of yore. In other words, horror lovers got, at least in part, the movement they were yearning for, and we have Eli Roth (in large part) to thank for it.

So it’s understandable that fans of Roth (a camp I happen to be a part of) were disappointed when it was announced that he would not direct or be officially involved in any capacity with ‘Cabin Fever 2’, the follow-up to the film that made his career. Fans have been further discouraged now that the sequel, which completed principal photography in April 2007, has yet to see either a theatrical or DVD release (according to producer Lauren Moews Vilchik there is still no theatrical release planned, and judging by the fact that the street date for the DVD looks to be February of next year, this one doesn’t seem likely to play your local multiplex). Simply put: when it’s 2