Eli Raphael Roth (born April 18, 1972) is an American film director, producer and writer. He established himself as a brand name director after his first film Cabin Fever, with name-above-the-title billing on all of his films since. Roth has done so without the support of mainstream press, and mainly uses the internet to promote his films and connect with his fans. Roth is considered the pioneer member of a group of film makers recently dubbed the Splat Pack (a play on the term Rat Pack, referring to a group of 1950's–1960's entertainers), because of their close ties to one another and their dedication to the horror genre.
Roth was born in Newton, Massachusetts to Cora, a painter, and Dr. Sheldon Roth, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, as well as a professor at Harvard University. He had a Jewish upbringing.
Roth began shooting films at the age of eight after watching Ridley Scott's Alien (1979). He made over 50 short films with his brothers Adam and Gabe before graduating at Newton South High School and then attending film school at New York University, from which he graduated in 1994. Actress Camryn Manheim gave Roth one of his first jobs in Hollywood, putting him on as an extra on The Practice when he first moved to Los Angeles. Roth would stay in Manheim's dressing room working on his scripts while she filmed the show. By the age of 20, Roth was the development head for producer Frederick Zollo, eventually leaving to devote himself to writing full-time. To earn his living, Roth did budgets and schedules for films such as A Price Above Rubies and Illuminata.
In 1995, Roth co-wrote Cabin Fever with his roommate and friend from NYU Randy Pearlstein. Much of the script was written while Roth was working as a production assistant for Howard Stern's movie Private Parts; Stern remembered and congratulated Roth on his January 11, 2006 radio show. The movie was filmed in 2001 on a shoestring budget of 1.5 million (raised with private investors) and was sold at the 2002 Toronto Film Festival for $3.5 million dollars after a massive bidding war between eight studios. It was the biggest sale of the festival that year. Cabin Fever made $30,553,394 theatrically worldwide. It was the highest grossing film for Lionsgate that year.
Lionsgate used the theatrical success of Cabin Fever to raise the money to purchase Artisan Entertainment. Lionsgate's stock rose from $1.98 a share at the time Cabin Fever was purchased at the Toronto Film Festival to nearly $6 a share after "Cabin Fever" was released theatrically. (Source: Lionsgate website financial reports.)
Roth's second feature film, Hostel, was made on a budget of a little more than $4 million, in 2005. It opened to #1 at the box office in January of 2006, taking in $20 million dollars opening weekend, and knocking out The Chronicles of Narnia from the #1 spot. It went on to gross $80 million worldwide in box office, and over $180 million worldwide on DVD. In April of 2006, on Eli Roth's birthday, Hostel opened on DVD at #1, again outselling The Chronicles of Narnia, which had opened at the #1 sales slot only one week prior. The movie takes place in Slovakia, where two college students visit a hostel, where they think that all of their fantasies will come true. Instead, they find an international syndicate with the express purpose of torturing and killing backpackers for sexual pleasure. The film pushed the boundaries of realistic violence farther than any mainstream American film had before that point. The film was voted the #1 scariest movie moment on the Bravo TV special 100 Scariest Movie Moments: Even Scarier Moments.
Roth reportedly turned down numerous studio directing jobs to make Hostel. Roth took a directing salary of only $10,000 on Hostel in order to keep the budget as low as possible, so there would be no limitations on the violence. Roth shot the film as an NC-17 movie, but the film passed through the ratings board with an R.
In January 2006, film critic David Edelstein in New York Magazine credited Roth with creating the horror sub-genre 'torture porn,' or 'gorno,' using excessive violence to excite audiences like a sexual act. While Roth loved the article for its insight appreciation of the filmmaking and political undertones of his films, many critics shortly thereafter began using the term to describe horror as a sub-genre of porn.[citation needed] Roth has publicly spoken out against these critics (not Edelstein), saying it exemplifies how critics are always quick to reduce horror to a sub-class of pornography, and that many horror films are much smarter and better made than critics give them credit for, which, ironically, was Edelstein's very point.[citation needed]
In 2007, Roth directed the fake trailer segment Thanksgiving for Grindhouse, in addition to acting in Death Proof, Quentin Tarantino's segment of the film. In recent interviews, Roth has vehemently expressed interest in expanding Thanksgiving into a feature-length motion picture, along with Edgar Wright - who would expand his trailer Don't - for a Grindhouse sequel.
Roth is working on other film projects, including an adaptation of the Stephen King novel Cell. He also talked about doing a film called Trailer Trash; a film made of fake trailers; according to an appearance on G4.
While Hostel Part II did not open to the same box office as the first Hostel, the production cost was a mere $10 million dollars, which was recouped by the first week in release. However, with marketing costs factored in to the equation, and the studio take usually only 55% of the box office total, it is unlikely that the film will turn a profit in its theatrical run. Prior to "Hostel II", all of Roth's films were considered extremely profitable, making him one of the most bankable directors working in Hollywood. He's also one of the few directors whose films are sold with his name above the title, and has been a guest on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "The Howard Stern Show," and "Late Night With Conan O'Brien."
Roth has proven to be an intelligent, and refreshingly candid commentator on his movies, and the horror genre in general. A good guide to understanding his perspective on his work in the horror genre can be gained through listening to his radio interviews of 4/26/2006 and 6/13/07 on The Treatment radio show with KCRW's critic Elvis_Mitchell. Both 30-minute interviews are freely available as podcasts from KCRW.
Roth is an accomplished animator, having written, produced, directed, animated and voiced two series: Chowdaheads (1999) and The Rotten Fruit (2000). Chowdaheads was co-written and co-voiced with friend Noah Belson, and was made with traditional hand-drawn animation. The Rotten Fruit, which Roth again co-wrote and co-voiced with Belson, was made with stop-motion animation done with foam puppets.
Roth participated in a DVD audio commentary for Blood Sucking Freaks. The DVD is one of the highest selling DVDs for Troma. Roth often makes uncredited cameos in Troma films.
