Blu-Ray Review: Cabin Fever: Patient Zero

By Brad Henderson

Who thought the Cabin Fever movies would keep going? I didn’t. I enjoyed the original Cabin Fever because Eli Roth was blending old school horror with a modern touch and it was a blast. Roth made a throwback film without calling it a throwback and succeeded in many ways. He left this franchise alone but continued making films like Hostel. Ti West stepped up to the plate next and made a sequel called Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever. This movie went into a different direction but kept the comedy and gore and did so in a way that it didn’t feel like much of a sequel aside from recurring characters. Even though Ti West disowns the film I still think it is a great addition to the franchise.

After its release the franchise seemed a little dead in the water. Last year I heard they were bringing it back and without rebooting it which made me sigh with relief. Image/RLJ have recently picked up the third installment to this bloodsoaked saga with Cabin Fever: Patient Zero. It’s a badass flick.

I enjoyed the hell out of the first two films so I was ecstatic to dive into this one. It is a real doozy. With the Cabin Fever series you can always expect a large amount of gross shit as well as some really great gore and you get all of that with Cabin Fever: Patient Zero. Since this film has a new director and writer and the series is not consistent at all, I was a little skeptical at first. However, Kaare Andrews made a “decent” debut with a film called Altitude. I wouldn’t consider myself a fan of the film but it showed a great deal of ambition and I kept my eye out for this kid to see what he would do next. Oddly enough, his next effort was the “V for Vagitus” segment in The ABCs Of Death, which was one of the better segments out of the 26 in the film.

Cabin Fever: Patient Zero leaves the originals alone and goes off on its own tangent to create something new but still continues the story of the flesh eating virus. In this installment, one of the survivors from an outbreak carries the disease, but is immune. Naturally, scientists believe he is the cure so they hold him captive on a “deserted” island to run tests and see what they can find out. In the meantime, a group of friends are on vacation and go to the island thinking they will have the place to themselves, but once two of the friends contract the flesh-eating disease, all hell breaks loose and it is a countdown to find the cure.

This flick is loaded with gore, action, and comedy and fits perfectly into this series. I’m hoping we can see a continuation of this franchise because these films are a lot of fun and we need more relentless horror like this without the rape and torture porn. These films are brutal and disgusting and I truly love that.

Cabin Fever: Patient Zero was released on Blu-Ray through RLJ/Image Entertainment on September 2.