Cabin Fever is a 2002 American comedy horror film that serves as the directorial debut of Eli Roth, centering on a group of college students who rent a remote cabin and contract a gruesome, flesh-eating disease. Roth drew inspiration from a real skin infection he developed while traveling in Iceland, and principal filming took place in North Carolina in late 2001. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2002, was picked up by Lionsgate, and became a sleeper hit upon its US release in September 2003, grossing over $30 million against a modest $1.5 million budget. The plot escalates when a hermit stumbles into the friends' camp, triggering a bloody chain reaction of paranoia, isolation, and visceral deaths—including a fatal bathtub scene—before the survivors realize the infection is spreading through the local water supply. Its success spawned a franchise, leading to sequels Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009) and Cabin Fever: Patient Zero (2014), as well as a 2016 remake.