Eli Roth

Cabin Fever (2003)

It’s my birthday, and I wasn’t quite sure which movie to watch to celebrate. I settled on this, which seemed fitting for a rainy weekend spent mostly at home. I think it was the right choice, as it’s always provided me a few laughs.

Cabin Fever was the first I’d ever heard of Eli Roth, and what a first impression it was. This has been one of my guilty pleasure movies since I first saw it. I mean, come on, Rider Strong is in it! And the “pancakes” kid! And that ridiculous call back with the rifle in the general store…so good.

Hostel (2006)

This movie is Eli Roth, through and through. Well, mostly anyway. I wavered a little on how highly to rate this and decided if I didn’t give it at least four out of five, I’d be lying to myself.

Watching it again now I find this movie a bit less impressive but at the time it was an original. And it’s still not bad, if you’re into this kind of thing – just make sure you’re really into this kind of thing, or you’ll probably regret watching it.

Hostel: Part II (2007)

It’s almost summer and it’s been hot outside, which means I frequently find myself not wanting to think about anything, much less which movie to watch that day. So I decided on this one. In fact, I started watching it only a few hours after watching last night’s movie, so the events from the first were fresh in my mind. I’m glad it worked out that way this time because I caught a few more details than I did the first time (with a couple years in between seeing the first and the second movies).

I haven’t seen the third installment of the franchise yet, and I’m not sure I want to. It’s not written or directed by Eli Roth, so I’m not holding high hopes that it’ll be fantastic. This one was written and directed by Eli Roth and it already wasn’t fantastic. It was okay, but it kind of felt like it was just a mix of scenes Eli Roth had to leave out of the first one. There’s little new in this one except for the characters. And they’re not all new, either.

Thanksgiving (2023)

I usually like Eli Roth. Maybe this one was just longer and slower than I’d have liked. Maybe it was overhyped a bit too much when it was first released. Maybe I’m just in a bad mood and nothing was going to entertain me today. But I wanted to like this one more than I did.

The Green Inferno (2013)

I like Eli Roth. He’s got a good eye for what scares people, even if I think he sometimes veers a bit too much in the direction of shock value over terror.

And this one definitely sits over on the shock value side. Which isn’t to say the premise itself isn’t terrifying, because it is. The idea that you could fly to a foreign country to do what you think is a good deed, only to be mistaken for the enemy by the very natives you were trying to protect…that’s pretty dark and disturbing on its own.