Movie Review: Cabin Fever: Patient Zero (2014)

The movie stars Sean Astin, Jillian Murray, Currie Graham, Mitch Ryan, Lydia Hearst and Ryan Donowho.

My wife wasn’t feeling very well yesterday after working a late shift the night before and, I admittedly, I also seemed to be a bit drained. So, we ended up spending our Sunday afternoon watching movies. This included this film, the third installment of the Cabin Fever series.

My first reaction to this movie was to question how many wrong choices it took for a well-known star like Sean Astin to star in what I thought was going to be a B-rated horror flick. However, as I watched this movie, I did discover it was better than I thought it would be.

I honestly don’t remember all that much about the two films that preceded this one, other than the fact they were both very gory. And, as expected, this film also relied heavily on a lot of blood and guts. But, while some scenes were obviously there for gratuitous gore (such as a scene involving two infected women fighting with each other), the film, overall, did manage to stay somewhat grounded and had a plot that made it worth watching.

The thing that really surprised me about this movie was the fact it wasn’t as predictable as I thought it was going to be. This, in no small part, was due to Astin’s character, Porter, who was immune to the disease and was being held against his will while the researchers tried to create a cure from his blood. There were subtle clues he was up to something. But, the movie does a good job of keeping his plan a secret until the very end (when it is revealed in a flashback) and, because of that, it was hard to tell what his overall motives are. In fact, was admittedly surprised when I found out.

Also, unlike many movies in this genre, there isn’t a whole lot of boring filler material. The action starts almost right away and we’re given just enough background on each of the main characters to understand who they are and their motivations without hearing a long back story. This, alone, made it better than a lot of other films.

I honestly wasn’t expecting too much from this movie other than a bunch of blood and gore. However, the overall plot was better than I expected it to be and it ended up being a halfway decent movie. I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re squeamish. But, if you like this kind of film, it’s worth taking the time to watch once.

My Grade: B