The Lost Highway: ELI ROTH - The Lynchman
Posted by Mary Markham on 11.10.2005
From “Cabin Fever” to “Hostel”, Roth is a nightmare’s dream come true!
Before Eli Roth, there were horror masters such as John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper, George Romero, Wes Craven, etc. These men were celebrated horror enthusiasts. They had cornered the market on horror films and since them no one has been able to join their elite club. And then a little movie called “Cabin Fever” was released in 2003 much to the delight of horror fanatics worldwide. It was innovative and unique to the genre as of late. Most movies of fright in the past ten years are predictable and tedious with the hip rock-n-roll soundtrack to make it that much more annoying. So along comes this strange little film that takes us all back to the days of Camp Crystal Lake, Haddonfield, IL and the backwoods of Texas. Oh so refreshing!
So I’m so impressed with this film I start doing a little digging around. Who is this visionary film maker who gives winks and nods to the horror films of the 70’s and 80’s throughout his own film? The answer my friends is Eli Roth. Let’s talk about his interesting career thus far.
1) Roth started making films with a super 8 camera at the age of eight after seeing Ridley Scott’s “Alien”.
2) He then went on to make over 50 short films before attending NYU where he received a student Academy Award.
3) He then proceeded to work in film in NYC before moving to Los Angeles. He also created two animated series, “Chowdheads” and “The Rotten Fruit”.
4) Along the way he met and began working with David Lynch which turned into a 6 year relationship with the great auteur. He worked with Lynch on producing content for Lynch’s website davidlynch.com.
5) In 2001, he shot “Cabin Fever” on a shoestring budget of $1.5 million. The studios all passed until the film was shown at the 2002 Toronto Film Festival where a bidding war ensued. Roth signed with Lions Gate and “Cabin Fever” received critical acclaim.
Phew! All that by the tender age of 33. Now if you haven’t seen “Cabin Fever” run furiously to your nearest video store. It is brilliant! I just finished watching it again and find that I feel right at home. Roth wrote the story based on a infection he got while working on a farm in Iceland. A brief premise of the story goes as such:
Five young college students decide to rent a cabin for a week where they can party and have sex and act stupid, etc. Their vacation turns sour after they shoot and beat a man who appears to have some sort of disease. They then begin to fall apart and turn on each other when they realize that they could all be contagious (a subtle nod to Carpenter’s “The Thing”). I won’t delve too deeply as many of you may not of seen it. But let me say this, it is engaging from beginning to the ever bizarre ending. It is visually stunning, well acted, frightening, funny, strange and all around a great movie. There is enough blood and gore to fill an entire town and some very strange local folk who lend to the surreal atmosphere.
Roth uses somewhat unknown actors who give fantastic performances and the soundtrack is nothing less that perfect. He doesn’t follow the typical formulaic nonsense of having current bands as the score of the film What he does is have Angelo Badalamenti (David Lynch’s composer) score part of it as well as using David Hess (ah, the serial rapist from Wes Craven’s terrifying “Last House on the Left”) songs. Yes Hess is a musician as well. Then the rest of the movie is scored by Nathan Barr who shares Roth’s vision and creates a memorable and haunting theme reminiscent of “Friday the 13th” and “Halloween”. All these elements just equal creative greatness!
Eli Roth’s next feature is called “Hostel” presented/produced by Quentin Tarantino. The film is slated for a December release (Merry Christmas girls and boys!). “Hostel” tells the story of two American boys backpacking through Europe (aww, “American Werewolf in London!!) who are lured by a fellow traveler to a Hostel in some obscure Slovakian town where there promises to be many beautiful and eager (meaning “easy”) women. They then find themselves trapped in the sinister recesses of the dark corners of the human psyche and the basest of all human behavior. Can’t wait!!
As a horror movie aficionado I welcome Roth with open arms. He definitely understands and adores the genre and appreciates all the innuendos that give a horror film longevity.
*For more on Eli Roth check out an interview with him from MovieMaker Magazine.
