I'm sure director Eli Roth is an alright guy who's enthusiastic about horror movies (which is probably why he got the chance to make this in the first place) - it's just that his film debut turns out to be an over-hyped flick that died the fairly quick death it deserved at the box office.

Some twenty-somethings head out to a cabin in the woods only to start catching a nasty skin eating disease when a hobo shows-up at their place spitting infected blood all over the place. From there it's shades of The Thing as nobody knows who to trust and who is infected - which leads to all sorts of suspicion, mild gore (this certainly doesn't deliver the grue it promised) and lots of junky scripting.

And let's talk about the script: the premise is definitely an alright one it's just that they've concentrated more on smirky humour and junky "hip" dialogue than actual horror or plot making this almost a parody of itself as it piles on annoying jokes (especially James DeBello's character who grates on your nerves) and failed attempts at humour without bothering even making an effort at suspense or tension. Plus it has lots of oddly out-of-place things like the party hungry deputy and the whole pointless "pancakes" moment.

This is one headache enducing time with Roth wearing his homages on his sleeve (while not trying for any original ideas) with his apparent love of George A. Romero flicks quite obvious (such as the "screwdriver" moment taken from Dawn Of The Dead and the finale which is a direct rip-off of Night Of The Living Dead). Distributor Lions Gate would themselves have to be infected to "green light" the rumoured sequel to this.

Directed By: Eli Roth.
Written By: Randy Pearlstein, Eli Roth.

Starring: Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent.

Picture Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: Lions Gate offers this one up with above average clarity and colour with no distracting or noticeable flaws.

Extras: Almost like the movie this offers a odd mix. There's a trailer (plus trailers for The Job and Serial Killing 101), a decent "making of" featurette, the "family friendly" version that runs under two minutes (this joke has been done before, guys!), a "pancakes" feature that's almost as pointless as the one in the movie, a "Chick-Vision" version that blocks certain "horrific" parts with new "happier" footage, the funny "Rotten Fruit" animated shorts Roth did before this and finally five (YES, FIVE!) exhausting commentaries - I mean c'mon I think one would've been enough...