The "Cabin Fever" Franchise

[StevePulaski]

Cabin Fever (2002)
Directed by: Eli Roth

Two of the friends in Cabin Fever.

Rating: ★★½

One has to commend Eli Roth for giving the horror genre a decent revival, yet one has to blame him for bringing back tired old horror cliches. Despite being a little choppy and somewhat inconsistent, Cabin Fever is a tolerable and efficient horror film that will satisfy gorehounds and will please most fans of the genre. The only thing I wish is that it would've left me with a more positive reaction.

The plot is an exercise in typical horror filmmaking; five College kids go out in the middle of the woods, to stay at a cabin to hold a post-exam party. Upon their arrival, they are greeted with a sickly man who is covered in blood and boils, who they accidentally burn while trying to defend themselves from his disease. It turns out, he leaves behind a deadly flesh-eating virus that soon consumes the College kids one by one.

All the typical stereotypes are covered; the everyman (Strong), the everyman's love interest (Ladd), the loudmouth drunk (DeBello), the seemingly metrosexual germaphobe (Kern), and the busty brunette (Vincent). It's hard to like really any of them since we are not acquainted with them long enough before the madness unfolds. The most likable character of them all was definitely Deputy Winston, played by avant-garde actor/musician Giuseppe Andrews, who is hellbent on heavy drinking and partying.

While Cabin Fever sort of phones in the characters, we can still say the film has a lot of other things going for it. For one thing, the cinematography is fantastic. The woods is one setting I'll never tire from, despite its presence in so many horror films. Living near a wooded area, I love going in there, as long as it's broad daylight. After dark, you couldn't force me in there. The woods is such a calm place in the afternoon, but it's a whole different character at night. Cabin Fever makes a good note of that. During the day, the woods is light, soft, and easy on the eyes. During the night, it's ominous, frightening, and occupies a feeling of dread. The soft music, combined with the elegant scenery works quite well in its favor.

All the gore effects are done with fake blood, and no CGI, from what I can tell, was used. There are two things I believe horror strongly lacks today; suspense and realistic effects. Now, horror films are made quickly, and most of the demanding work, like gore effects, are done in post-production. It's most likely because its less demanding to just do it on the computer than it is to get messy in some fake blood. Practical effects are a lot more efficient because it shows a sign of realism and modesty, in a good way. As for suspense, the film accomplishes that pretty well too. Especially during the third act which becomes almost a cat and mouse game.

Eli Roth has made sort of molded Cabin Fever into two things; a satire and an homage. A satire on the clumsy characters we see in horror films, and an homage to some of his favorite movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The film isn't perfect, but it has a heart and pays, at least, some attention to things mostly forgotten in a horror films today. Ultimately, it sort of contradicts itself by giving us cliche characters at the same time subtly boasting the message "horror is dying," and the film sometimes seems indecisive which route to take. With a tighter script, Roth would've been able to do a lot of good with Cabin Fever, but the result is only average.

NOTE: The film does offer one of the more surprising endings in a long time. I too commend Roth for not ending on a cheap cliffhanger.

Starring: Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern, Arie Verveen, and Giuseppe Andrews. Directed by: Eli Roth.

[StevePulaski]

Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2010)
Directed by: Ti West

Rating: ★★

Torture porn has come a long way. Most notably getting a great start with the original Cabin Fever back in 2002, which was forthcoming Saw, then Hostel and The Collector, which all lead up to this mess. Cabin Fever 2 is a fast paced film on the verge of being a shock film. Originally planned distribution in 2007, it was delayed up until 2010 to be released. It goes beyond your wildest nightmare with the gore scenes, the flesh eating scenes, and the ending.

The film starts out about five minutes where the originally left off. A school bus hits a man (who is mistaken for a moose) by Giuseppe Andews. Lord knows his acting is exceptionally well, but he is the only fun and enjoyable part of the film with his stereotypical 90s tone and funny approach to every character he comes in contact with.

The likability of the characters, is very slim. I don't care, or like for that matter, any of the characters excluding Andrews. I just want to see fights and blood. Boy, I was barking up the wrong tree. Its no doubt that this movie would follow in the footsteps of the first film. But the gore scenes are laughably fake and unrealistic to the point its inexcusable.

A flesh eating disease as spread vastly through a popular brand of bottled water. Of course, a prom is in the mix, and a big bowl of punch including the tainted water is brought to the party. When consumed by nearly every student, a certain team quarantines the school locking everyone inside leaving no escape. The two who aren't infected are John and Cassie, two high school students hiding their feelings for each other.

Contemplating not going to prom, John does along with Cassie and things heat up at school. A death in the pool seems minor, but its definitely the part I experienced the most nausea in. For a Horror movie, its passable, but for the long wait this movie had me under, I expected much more. The rotten core stems from the bad acting and some unrealistic measures involving a table saw, a flame thrower, and duct tape. Barely passable Horror flick.

Starring: Rider Strong, Giuseppe Andrews, Judah Friedlander, Noah Segan, and Marc Senter. Directed by: Ti West.

[StevePulaski]

Cabin Fever: Patient Zero (2014)
Directed by: Kaare Andrews

Sean Astin sporting a look similar to Zach Galifianakis in Cabin Fever: Patient Zero.

Rating: ★★½

Kaare Andrews' Cabin Fever: Patient Zero is the first of two prequels in the long-running Cabin Fever franchise that started back in 2002. The second prequel, Cabin Fever: Outbreak, is tentatively scheduled to be released in 2014, but for now, we have Patient Zero, a mildly-amusing, ninety-minute affair detailing the events that took place before the first Cabin Fever, which centered on a group of five college kids who went out to a remote cabin in the woods only to encounter a flesh-eating virus.

Right off the bat, if you're expecting a film that cleverly places itself before the events of the first picture, you may be disappointed to learn that Patient Zero distances itself far away from that stray cabin in the woods. Rather, the film focuses on a Caribbean cruise and follows a group of four friends as they enjoy a bachelor party on a beach in a predominately-Spanish neighborhood. Writer Jake Wade Wall interjects this story with the focus of a research lab, where a lab-rat (Sean Astin) is kept sheltered in order to be the recipient of numerous abusive and potentially lethal tests.

The friends on the bachelor party do just about what you'd expect until the one female friend explores the deep sea and then resurfaces with a fierce, ugly rash on her arms. Her boyfriend believes it may be an allergic reaction to saltwater, but sees it only getting worse. He decides to wisely perform oral sex on his girlfriend to relax her and then finds his bottom jaw soaked with blood; his girlfriend is now the bearer of a vicious flesh-eating virus that will soon eat her - and anyone who touches her - alive.

Patient Zero's budget is evidently low, but it's at least a relief to note that the blood and effects are not distractingly fake like in Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever. Moreover, some scenes spark genuine fright and discomfort, like the aforementioned sequence between a man and his infected girlfriend, along with the scene when the girlfriend's virus begins to worsen despite her boyfriend's remedies. If nothing else, commend Patient Zero for playing to the beat of the franchise's drums and applaud them for at least following the formula of its two predecessors.

However, the issue here is, yet again, there's limited interest in the characters (and by "limited" I mean non-existent) and the third act, which suffers from probably the worst thing a horror film can suffer from - darkness. As it goes on, and the night becomes young, Patient Zero's videography becomes increasingly dark and murky, with the frustrating inability to clearly see what we're supposed to see. "The dark-factor" in horror films is something that can instantaneously throw it off track due to the fact that not being able to see what's going on in the film is immediately alienating to the viewer. Returning to my point about the characters, to begin with, the characters don't have any discernible personality and, even worse, no real stereotypes to work off either; they are some of the most faceless people in a horror film I have yet to see. So when the going gets tough for them, it's difficult to grant them the sympathy they should deserve.

Patient Zero is all over the place as a horror film, but, to be frank, so is the franchise is belongs to. Eli Roth's original Cabin Fever was a spectacular horror film given its cinematography and woodsy location, but, like its prequel, possessed lackluster characters that seemed to only be stereotypes personified. The second film, directed by Ti West, was kind of a mess as well, with a totally different focus, but still maintained its gross, shock-value ridden personality the franchise had created. This particular film is well-made given its obvious budgetary shortcomings, but between the darkness, the empty characters, and the franchise's first installment that is absent Giuseppe Andrews, one of the most charismatic and interesting avant-garde actors working today, it still makes its franchise 0-3 in the regard of being awarded my personal recommendation.

Starring: Sean Astin, Currie Graham, Ryan Donowho, Brando Eaton, Mitch Ryan, and Jillian Murray. Directed by: Karre Andrews.