Cabin Fever: Patient Zero (2014) #404

"Cabin Fever: Patient Zero" is another unnecessary sequel trying to capitalize on a successful, original film. Set as a prequel to the events in 2002's "Cabin Fever", "Patient Zero" fails to offer anything new the franchise and just feels like more of the same. Half of the movie follows a man named Porter (played by Sean Austin), who is immune to the infection that he is carrying. He spends most of the film locked in an unreliable quarantine system where he is able to infect others, including a mouse. During this time we still do not learn the cause of the infection (unless I missed it) but it is revealed that the doctor tending on Porter believes that he is close to coming up with a cure...which will ultimately make him rich and famous. The other half of the film focuses on a bachelor party that finds it's way onto the island where Porter is being kept. Party people and scientists are both exposed to infection and die in bloody messes, just like they do in the previous two films.

I could say that the movie's lackluster performance was due to the director, Kaare Andrews, isn't even really a filmmaker but a man who is better known for his contributions as an illustrator for Marvel Comics. But knowing that, I can't blame him because he didn't write the script or develop the concept, he was just working with what he had.

Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009)

It never occurred to me that there should be a sequel to “Cabin Fever” because what could they possibly add to the story? It turns out that there is nothing to add, only more scenes of the infection affecting people in different surroundings. Like a high school prom. Why not? Well, because that would be a lame idea; the infection takes time to spread and develop. Of course but not in sequel land! Here the infection takes a matter of minutes, 30 to 60 or so, before you see it and get killed by it. So freaking lame!

It is fun to see Winston again, this time a little bit more on the ball and slowly aware of what’s going on. Besides that….not too much more to root for in this film directed by Ti West. Even Mr. West has distanced himself from the movie after re-shoots and re-editing were performed after he submitted a final version. I’ll sit through a showing of his version if it ever becomes available but I’m not really expecting much of a saving grace from that movie either. After all, he wrote the script as well...

Cabin Fever (2002)

Summer is the perfect time to go camping and sadly so many young adults are killed by various silent maniacs wielding machetes and other sharp objects. So imagine what a breath of fresh air the film “Cabin Fever” presented to the horror movie loving masses. You still have a group of young college age friends, you still have nudity for the target audience, and you have people dying. But “Cabin Fever” doesn’t have a person killing people but rather a contaminated water supply. The movie also has some of the best unexpected moments of black comedy thrown in to keep the viewer engaged. This film was Eli Roth’s big picture debut as a writer and director and he impressed the hell out of me.

Five college friends (Paul, Karen, Bert, Mercy, and Jeff) go out to the woods for a camping getaway to celebrate the end of the school. They meet some interest locals at the gas station/market, making a great first impression. Once they are at the cabin the group breaks up to do their own thing; Paul and Karen go swimming, Macy and Jeff have sex, and Bert goes off alone to shot squirrels…and eventually a homeless guy. Later that night the homeless guy shows up at their front door, bloody from the gunshot wound as well as something else. He’s sick and wounded and when they refuse to help him and he realizes that Bert is in the cabin, the homeless guy goes to their truck and begins to get blood all over the inside. They manage to chase him away in the morning they split up to find help. But unaware to them, they have been drinking the same water that affected the homeless guy. Soon they begin to show signs of the infection and things only go downhill from there.

Favorite moment – Watching how the group treats Karen and the process of her decay. It’s hard to imagine how a group in real life would approach this situation and the way the movie handled it is a very likely possibility.