Ever since the original film was released in 2002, the "Cabin Fever" franchise has been growing and growing, with a sequel, a prequel, and a remake.
“Cabin Fever” has become a cult classic. It both shocked and entertained audiences. And it was the film that put Eli Roth on the map. It came out in 2002. Then seven years later, the sequel was released: “Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever.” Five years after that, “Cabin Fever: Patient Zero” came out. This film was a prequel to the other two. Now this year, a remake has been released,14 years after the original. The question to whether or not the original cult classic should have become a franchise is a no brainer. It absolutely should. The real question is: “Did they actually do it right?” That would be a “no.”
Eli Roth originally wrote "Cabin Fever" in 1995 when he was 22. It took him years for the script to be picked up. When it finally hit the big screen, it became an instant classic. The film had everything that horror fans could want. It was funny. It had blood, guts, and nudity. And the ridiculousness kept elevating until the shocking ending. "Cabin Fever" was about five college students heading to a cabin in the woods during spring break. Once getting there, one by one, they become infected with a flesh eating virus. They are forced to kill off each other, and even become hunted down by the rural town folks.
The jokes were hilarious. The deaths were disturbing. And the cast was on point. Even Eli Roth’s cameo as the pot smoking skateboarder named Grimm who is living in the woods with his dog, Dr. Mambo, is forever memorable. "Boy Meets World" fans got to see their lovable Shawn Hunter, Rider Strong, become a sexual pot-smoking diseased murderer. The most prominent performance in the film was by Giuseppe Andrews as Deputy Winston Olsen, the 40 ounce loving sheriff’s deputy who just wants to party.
The film ends open ended, leaving us with the possibility of this wonderful cult classic turning into a franchise like many of its predecessors in the horror genre. This is what exactly should have happened. And it did happen. The only problem is that it happened poorly.
"Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever" came out in 2009, written and directed by Ti West. Ti West is responsible for many great horror films like "The Innkeepers," "The House of the Devil," "The Sacrament," and several more. "Cabin Fever 2" is not on that list. Before Ti West took over the project, there were actually two scripts in development. One by Eli Roth himself, and the other by cult hero, Adam Green. What ended up becoming the final product was so bad that Ti West himself requested to have his name taken off of the film, claiming that the film he set out to make was not the film that the studio produced. "Cabin Fever 2" is the only film in the franchise to have any of the actors reprising their roles from the original. Rider Strong returns as Paul, the original film’s protagonist. The only problem is that his face is covered in so many prostheses that he is unrecognizable. And all he does is walk out of the woods and gets hit by a bus in the first couple minutes of the film. Deputy Winston returns as a large part of the film. Unfortunately, Giuseppe Andrews’ performance was not as memorable as it was in the original.
"Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever" takes place exactly where the first film left off. The first film ends with Paul’s diseased body being dumped into a lake that turns out to be the water used by a bottled-water company. Through animation, we are told that the contaminated water is bottled and shipped to a local high school. The film then shifts to a story about two nerds trying to find dates for the prom. The film seems to almost turn into a PSA for sexually transmitted diseases. The second protagonist, Alex, gets the virus from oral sex with a fellow student, who moonlights as a stripper, with a pustule on her mouth. The virus ends up infecting everyone at the prom dance, as they all simultaneously throw up blood all over the dance floor. The CCD (Contamination Control Division) locks down the school as the party goers infect and murder each other. A female student is able to escape. She gets picked up by Deputy Winston, and they drive off as she begins to show signs of the virus. The movie then cuts to a strip club, wear the female student from earlier spews puss all over the patrons, who then begin to spread the virus around the world. This is once again shown to us through animation.
This film tried to capture the themes and traits of the original in a larger scale, and failed at it. The humor is overly crude and way too repetitive. The gore is more cringe worthy and less exciting, due to the overuse of puss. It’s also less specific. We don’t see the virus quickly eat away at the victims as often. We more so just see a room full of people spewing blood. This film attempted to pay homage to the original, and it probably did the best job at that compared to the other additions to the franchise, but it still failed miserably. Even the connections to the original film were faint and underwhelming. There’s really no mystery why Ti West did not want his name on this film.
Sadly enough, "Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever" may have been a high point for the franchise.
"Cabin Fever: Patient Zero" came out in 2014. This film served as a prequel to the other two films. It is meant to explain the origin of the virus, which it doesn’t clearly do. Sadly enough, the film has no connections to the original. It doesn’t show how the virus makes it to the cabin. Unlike its predecessors, this film lacks the humor. Except for the part when someone gets their head caved in by a giant dildo. It does attempt to follow the theme of the other two films by focusing on party goers. The first film has spring breakers. The second are high school students at the prom. This one has a bachelor party. Marcus is about to get married. His best friend, his brother, and his brother’s girlfriend (a lifelong friend of Marcus who he secretly had sex with) decide to take him to a secluded island. Little did they know that on that island is a top secret facility that is trying to contain the virus. Sean Astin plays Patient Zero, the first flesh and blood villain in the entire series. Porter (Astin) is the only person that is unaffected to the virus, yet he is still a carrier. Eventually Patient Zero gets off the island and purposely starts spreading the virus. That’s how it all began.
Fourteen years after the original film was made, a remake emerged, bringing the question to everyone’s minds: “Why?” "The Cabin Fever" remake strips everything great out of the original, delivering a dry lifeless shot for shot poorly delivered carbon copy. This film is a less raunchy, politically correct, modernized, darker, knock off. It takes away all the humor and delivers a much much darker and dramatic film. The score drenches everything with dark tones. The jokes are poorly executed for this reason, and make no sense. They kept the jokes, but made them humorless. It turns out that unlike most remakes, this film used the exact same script from Eli Roth’s classic. The director, Travis Z, cut the 134 page script down to 92 pages, leaving so many things lost in translation. Instead of remaking the ending, he just cuts it out entirely. The few things that Travis Z changed or added did not make any sense. For instance: Why would a gun fire then all of a sudden have the safety on? And, also, setting someone on fire is no way at all a mercy kill.
To top it all off, the cast was filled with boring uninteresting people. The main cast were under-actors who didn’t seem to even be trying, and everyone else seemed to be unmemorable over-actors. Deputy Winston was played by Louise Linton, since Travis Z said that he could never replicate Giuseppe Andrews’ performance. She also had an unexplained scar below her eye that was distracting and pointless. The lovable stoner, Grimm, was an angry fat backwoods hick with no charm. The only plus side of this cast was Nadine Crocker who was pleasant in all possible ways. She out-shined everyone else. The film actually has a zero percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The sequels weren’t great, but they existed. This monstrosity should never be seen by human eyes. It would be better to have the virus than watch this movie.
The original 2002 film will always be a classic and loved by many. It took off Eli Roth’s colorful career. It laid seeds and set up a great possibility for an enjoyable series. Unfortunately this promise was never delivered. Unlike successful film franchises "The Evil Dead," "Child’s Play," "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "Friday the 13th," "Halloween," "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "The Omen," "Night of the Living Dead," and many more, "Cabin Fever" will be left as a one hit wonder.
