3. “From the blood-
curdling Cabin Fever to the
hackfest Hostel, Roth has
become the master of turning
little films that could into bona
fide Hollywood blockbusters.”
Ask Men
4. The Man Himself
Born Eli Raphael Roth, 18th April 1972,
Newton Massachusetts U.S.
Son of Cora Roth, a painter, and Dr
Sheldon Roth, a psychiatrist, had 2
siblings.
Made 50 short films from the age of 8,
before graduating at Newton South High
School, and then later going to film
school in New York University.
By the age of 20, Roth was still a
student at NYU, and ran an office of
producer Frederick Zollo, but quit to
devote his time to writing.
Caryeim Manheim gave him one of his
first jobs in Hollywood, putting him as an
extra on The Practice.
He Graduated Summa Cum Laude in
1994 from NYU.
5. Roth’s Career
In his final years (1993/1994) at NYU film
school, Roth wrote and directed a student
film called Restaurant Dogs as a homage
to Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. The film
was nominated for a Student Academy
Award in 1995, and won its division.
Through his internship with producer Fred
Zollo in years prior, Roth met David Lynch and
remained in contact with him over the years,
eventually producing content for Lynch with
his fledgling website in the late 1990s.
Roth moved from NYC to LA in 1999; shortly
thereafter he wrote, directed, edited,
produced, animated, and provided voices
for a series of animated shorts
called Chowdaheads for Mandalay Sports
Entertainment.
After receiving financial backup from the
website Z.com to deliver a 5-minute pilot,
Roth wrote, directed, animated and
produced a series of stop-motion shorts in
mid-2000 called The Rotten Fruit.
6. Films and Projects By Eli Roth
Cabin Fever:
-Co wrote by Randy Pearlstein, his
university room mate.
-Made in 2001, sold to Lionsgate
-Highest grossing film of the year
Hostel:
-Made in 2005 on a 4 million dollar
budget.
-Number 1 at the box office in 2006.
-Empire Magazine readers
voted Hostel the Best Horror Film of 2007
Other Films included
-Hostel Part 2
-Thanksgiving
-Endangered Species
7.
8.
9. “I want to make movies that are
interesting and different, and that
make people think. I mean, I want
to make a movie that they can
have a great time, that they can
watch over and over and over
and that 30 years from now that
people will still be watching.”
“If I don't come home covered
head to toe in fake blood then I
haven't done my job as a horror
director.”
“Make a date movie, make a
popcorn movie, or a Friday night
movie and just do it well. That's all I
ever wanted to do.”
10. Eli Roth’s Cinematic Style
Classical Film Making Style: Roth photographs, edits and films in the style of 1970’s
drama’s. He does not use the modern "MTV" style of fast cutting, and prefers the
filmmaking techniques not to be noticed, and to take a back seat to the story and
performances.
Eli Roth prefers to create movies that have an unfolding narrative rather than a
situation narrative, where predictability becomes noticeable.
He also prefers people to know nothing about the movie until they go to see it.
The horror in his films comes in the psychology of his characters, whose selfishness,
hedonism, desperation, or ignorance causes them to behave in frightening ways.
“You’d have to let the camera roll for a while, until they get tired and have that
moment where they are staring straight ahead, which gives a horror effect.”
11. According To Roth...
In the following YouTube clip, Eli
Roth is interviewed about his
cinematic style in The Last Exorcism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqC3TKd
fbeo
12. Film Trailers
The Last Exorcism:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NcYXzZCQsE
Hostel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d5_lrn9v-g
Cabin Fever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoJWIXj1VvM
13. What made these movies so
successful?
The Last Exorcism: The film was successful because, the narrative itself was creepy and this
is why Eli Roth wanted to produce the movie. The fact that a handheld/documentary
camera was used throughout also made us feel like there was no barrier as an audience.
Considering Eli Roth was involved in this movie there was not a lot of gore, which appealed
to audiences, because it is unusual for Roth not to use gore.
Hostel: The film's opening weekend North American box office gross was $19.5 million,
making it the top grossing film that weekend. It went on to gross a total of $47.2 million in
the U.S. The film's budget was around $4.8 million, and the film went on to gross over $80
million at the box office worldwide. The movie was inspired by true events, which led to the
audience believing in the movie. The movie was full of gore, which a typical of Roth, and
this makes it appealing to horror fans.
Cabin Fever: Grossing $33,553,394 at the box office worldwide, the film was marked No. 3
and the highest grossing film released by Lions Gate Home Entertainment in 2003. Critical
response to the film was mixed to positive, with a rave review from the New York
Times and Film Comment magazine. Rotten Tomatoes, which compiles reviews from a wide
range of critics, gives the film a score of 63%, with the consensus "More gory than
scary, Cabin Fever is satisfied with paying homage to genre conventions rather than
reinventing them. Once again, the movie is full of gore and blood, which is a typical horror
convention which appeals highly to audiences. Cabin fever is a typical slasher movie, in
the woods, which could happen in real life.
