The flesh eating virus expands to a deserted island in this third spinoff terror film Cabin Fever: Patient Zero. This episode has some fairly good acting ability, able direction and a plot that should satisfy most horror fans. Now on DVD for the first time, the movie shows well on a home entertainment system. It’s one of those guilty pleasure films that deliver best in a darkened room, your favorite libation and a honey to squeeze when the shocking guts and gore start to fly. It’s the kick-off to a selection of Halloween treats.
The film opens at a shack in a forest with men in protective suits entering the house that has dead people lying about. Dripping with blood, the dead are hideous looking as we see torn flesh and bodies in horror stricken positions. There’s one person Porter (Sean Astin) still alive and the men pull him out of the shack. Having survived the event, the medical scientists are puzzled as to why.
Flash to a third world country with husband to be Marcus (Mitch Ryan) and Dobbs (Ryan Donowho) riding in a jeep on their way to a wedding at a posh resort. Along the way they pick up Marcus’s wildly extroverted brother Josh (Brando Eaton) who had arrived sometime earlier. The next day after the pre-wedding party, Josh takes Marcus down to the docks where he announces that the bachelor party will be a trip to a private island for a night of booze and bad behavior. Along for the trip are Dobbs, Josh and Josh’s girlfriend Penny (Jillian Murray) who happens to be Marcus’s old friend and sex partner.
When they get within a mile of the secluded island, the boat captain informs the group that the waters are too low for his boat to take them ashore so the four partiers take the skiff to the beach. After a little snorkeling in the water, Penny gets a strange rash that starts to spread. So beings a night of horror, terrifying encounters and a run for their lives as they try to save their flesh and fight off madness.
Director Kaare Andrews puts on a special effects make-up show that’s guts and gore throughout. He holds nothing back as he leads his cast through a maze of island madness capped with a story of deprived desire to find a cure for the flesh eating virus that will make a mad scientist rich. The film takes most of the 90 minutes with Marcus, Josh, Dobbs and Penny in a battle against weather, rotting flesh, murky island woods, a decaying research building that has been turned into a gory cesspool and avoiding medical techs scrambling to escape the devastation.
Considering his low budget his main actors at the center of the plot Ryan, Donowho, Eaton and Murray are actually good choices for their roles. They keep in focus to assure their characters fulfill the needed desires of Andrew’s direction of the script. Ryan puts on a hard face when confronted by the elements and knowing it may be death to the whole group. Andrews pushes Ryan to take leadership during the most critical and potentially flawed scenes and makes them be successful. Following in his efforts the three co-stars keep the rhythm of the film going to the final resolution.
There are a couple of down sides to the film, that being the transition of Sean Astin’s character Porter from the cabin in the woods to the research building on the island. The plot gets loosely developed in this side story of Porter’s defiance of being used as a guinea pig by mad scientist Dr. Edwards. And an obvious predictability when the lab rat escapes from the fumbling hands of a research assistant. Put both of these things together with an insipid performance by Currie Graham as the mad scientist and it is a recipe for failure. However, that said, thanks to the aforementioned young actors, the DVD is still worth the watch.
Cabin Fever: Patient Zero has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains strong bloody violence and gore, disturbing gross content, drug use, sexuality/nudity and pervasive language. Be cautious when watching the film at home not to have youngsters present.
Specifications and additional film information:
- Cast: Ryan Donowho, Brando Eaton, Jillian Murray, Mitch Ryan, Lydia Hearst, Currie Graham, Sean Astin
- Director: Kaare Andrews
- MPAA Rating: Unrated but contains strong bloody violence and gore, disturbing gross content, sexuality/nudity and pervasive language
- Genre: Horror, Thriller
- Running Time: 1 hr 31 min
- Video Release Date: September 2, 2014
- Original Film Release Date: August 1, 2014
- Language: English
- Format: DVD
- Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Video: Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 2.40:1
- Subtitles: English SDH
- Number of Discs: 1 Disc
- Distributed by: RLJ/Image Entertainment
