This Day in Horror History: Happy Birthday Eli Roth
Josh Millican
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Eli Roth, a 21st Century Master of Horror, was born on this day in 1972. Roth made a huge splash (or splat!) with his darkly-comic Cabin Fever in 2002 (a film that is very relevant again in the age of COVID-19). His star rose further with the release of Hostel in 2005 and its excellent sequel, Hostel: Part II in 2007. Other notable movies in his filmography include Knock Knock, The Green Inferno, Death Wish, and The House with a Clock in Its Walls.
Trademark:
Roth photographs, edits, and scores his films like 1970s dramas. 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. (Source)
Trivia:
He got his idea for Cabin Fever (2002) when he was in Iceland and contracted a case of a flesh-eating disease. The now infamous shaving-legs scene in the bathtub is based on when Roth shaved his face and layers of skin came off while having the disease. (Source)
He paid for his student films by working as an on-line sex operator for Penthouse magazine, back when only doctors and scientists were on the Internet. Subscribers paid $30 an hour to have sex with Roth and his N.Y.U. friends, thinking they were gorgeous Penthouse models. Roth claims that these experiences inspire many of the characters he writes today. (Source)
Eli Roth turns 47-years-old today, and all of us here at Dread Central wish him a very Happy Birthday!
Categorized:News This Day in Horror
