The sly, rambunctious spirit of Evil Dead 2 lives on in Cabin Fever, an outrageous, balls-to-the-wall horror film that marks the directorial debut of David Lynch protégé Eli Roth. Without name stars, all bets are off as to who will survive (and what will left of them?) the flesh-eating virus that turns a week-long vacation into a nightmare.

Five college students (among them, Rider Strong of TV’s Boy Meets World and Jordan Ladd, the gorgeous daughter of Charlie’s Angel Cheryl) go to a remote cabin in the woods for a leisurely stay of sex, drugs and copious beer drinking.  Their bacchanalian plans soon go awry at the appearance of a hermit with sizzling skin. They “accidentally” set him on fire and he runs off, but their problems have only just begun. One by one, they start exhibiting the same symptoms, from oozing open sores to projectile blood-puking.

Though it has a few jolts, the film can’t truly qualify as scary, but Roth casts an ominous area throughout, even when it veers 180? into huge laughs. It’s part homage and send-up to ‘70s horror films, but never becomes in danger of stooping to the self-conscious level of Scary Movie. All the gags – from the kung-fu kid to the errant deer – work within the horror context; the humor doesn’t jar you out of the story nor does it wink at the audience. And nor would it need to, because you’re 100 percent into the ride.

Since I enjoyed every minute of it, Cabin Fever may be the most fun movie I’ve seen all year. Roth channels everyone from Raimi to Romero and whips up a zippy, delirious experience that hopefully is the start of a long and wonderful career.