Whereas 2003's Cabin Fever at least tried to be a normal horror film, albeit using a hundred movie references, Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever is a dark-comedy/horror/homage onslaught.
And even though Part 2 takes off immediately after the conclusion of its origin story and it carries the virus planted to new heights, it's a sequel in name only. I.E. there's no cabin here and the only woods are in the background this time.
Does this make the movie any less entertaining? By no means, but as I said with the first one (in my review,) you really, REALLY have to be a member of the 1970s and 1980s horror fan club. Namely with movies like Creepshow, Carrie, Prom Night and especially Peter Jackson's Dead Alive. (By the way, only naming 4 doesn't equate to the hundreds this horror comedy plays homage to.) Sure the movie's silly – they don't even bother to cover up the vomiting blood is coming from the side of the victim's mouth vs. throat, it's certainly over-the-top and virtually had nothing to do with the first movie, aside from the virus, but it's enjoyable and fun. AGAIN – for those select fans of the above mentioned movies. I can't see this having any appeal for any other group of fans.
After the movie begins with a school bus hitting an infected human, setting the loony deputy from Part 1 into an actual investigation, it thrusts you into an animated opening credit scene. To be bluntly honest, as a fan of said movie and genres, this creeps the hell out of me. Growing up, any horror film featuring this, just as an example, as I am sure there are more, Creepshow and Frogs, always scared me the most. So, this particular homage (not portrayed in Part 1) already hooked me. (On a side note, for those who will see this, I loved the fact they used red for the blood, yet, it's obvious that was just for our benefit – it was never red in live-action.) The animation also serves the purpose of setting up the premise: highly infected water is being inadvertently bottled and shipped to a local high school, which of course is on the same day as the Prom. Enter in two best buds: John (Segan) and Alex (Kelley,) both sadly in love with the two girls they can't have and in turn they vow not to attend the prom later.
All the while, the film follows the virus closely as victim after victim set themselves up to be sick later (for those who already know how bad things are about to get, i.e. anyone who's viewed the first film.) This includes Alex who has bathroom sex with a girl who has no business infecting someone with what she had (cold sore virus, maybe?) with or without the movie's main bug, nor should the eternally horny Alex agree. At any rate without any sort of spoiler alert, this seals his fate.
The movie actually does a good job of transfixing on multiple story lines, groups of kids and the typical group of secret militants who are trying to contain the virus. Unfortunately, it contains a lot of offensive behavior along the way, all for laughs, of course. But, it's rarely funny when movies continually say it's okay to be homophobic or good to poke fun at heavier set people. Nevertheless, the movie's not trying to act moral in anyway, it's merely an excuse to show a lot of blood, guts, humor and homage.
I truly believe everyone on set had a good time. It shows. They were all involved and produced a movie in today's time that translate to horror of decades past.
So, the movie continues, the boys, John and Alex end up at the prom (duh) and the military shows up. This is another aspect I liked – the big and extremely obvious prom-bloodbath (seriously, that cannot be a spoiler) wasn't the finale/climax as it was set up to be. You have so much more. More blood, tension, nudity and again, what scares me – another cartoon.
Honestly, I would recommend this movie for those looking for a fun, gory and no-brainer horror film. For being direct-to-video, it actually had good production value, decent acting, nicely paced scenes and an enjoyable roller-coaster ride of suspense. Was it better than #1? I would say they were equal and separate as they are two completely different movies with a thin line connecting them.
You can watch both in one night, like I did, but you might need to take a break from horror, as I will..for a long time. Enough gore is enough for awhile.
(Okay, not too long. I still have the remake, A Nightmare on Elm Street to see next month it is my favorite horror series of all time, after all.)
And even though Part 2 takes off immediately after the conclusion of its origin story and it carries the virus planted to new heights, it's a sequel in name only. I.E. there's no cabin here and the only woods are in the background this time.
Does this make the movie any less entertaining? By no means, but as I said with the first one (in my review,) you really, REALLY have to be a member of the 1970s and 1980s horror fan club. Namely with movies like Creepshow, Carrie, Prom Night and especially Peter Jackson's Dead Alive. (By the way, only naming 4 doesn't equate to the hundreds this horror comedy plays homage to.) Sure the movie's silly – they don't even bother to cover up the vomiting blood is coming from the side of the victim's mouth vs. throat, it's certainly over-the-top and virtually had nothing to do with the first movie, aside from the virus, but it's enjoyable and fun. AGAIN – for those select fans of the above mentioned movies. I can't see this having any appeal for any other group of fans.
After the movie begins with a school bus hitting an infected human, setting the loony deputy from Part 1 into an actual investigation, it thrusts you into an animated opening credit scene. To be bluntly honest, as a fan of said movie and genres, this creeps the hell out of me. Growing up, any horror film featuring this, just as an example, as I am sure there are more, Creepshow and Frogs, always scared me the most. So, this particular homage (not portrayed in Part 1) already hooked me. (On a side note, for those who will see this, I loved the fact they used red for the blood, yet, it's obvious that was just for our benefit – it was never red in live-action.) The animation also serves the purpose of setting up the premise: highly infected water is being inadvertently bottled and shipped to a local high school, which of course is on the same day as the Prom. Enter in two best buds: John (Segan) and Alex (Kelley,) both sadly in love with the two girls they can't have and in turn they vow not to attend the prom later.
All the while, the film follows the virus closely as victim after victim set themselves up to be sick later (for those who already know how bad things are about to get, i.e. anyone who's viewed the first film.) This includes Alex who has bathroom sex with a girl who has no business infecting someone with what she had (cold sore virus, maybe?) with or without the movie's main bug, nor should the eternally horny Alex agree. At any rate without any sort of spoiler alert, this seals his fate.
The movie actually does a good job of transfixing on multiple story lines, groups of kids and the typical group of secret militants who are trying to contain the virus. Unfortunately, it contains a lot of offensive behavior along the way, all for laughs, of course. But, it's rarely funny when movies continually say it's okay to be homophobic or good to poke fun at heavier set people. Nevertheless, the movie's not trying to act moral in anyway, it's merely an excuse to show a lot of blood, guts, humor and homage.
I truly believe everyone on set had a good time. It shows. They were all involved and produced a movie in today's time that translate to horror of decades past.
So, the movie continues, the boys, John and Alex end up at the prom (duh) and the military shows up. This is another aspect I liked – the big and extremely obvious prom-bloodbath (seriously, that cannot be a spoiler) wasn't the finale/climax as it was set up to be. You have so much more. More blood, tension, nudity and again, what scares me – another cartoon.
Honestly, I would recommend this movie for those looking for a fun, gory and no-brainer horror film. For being direct-to-video, it actually had good production value, decent acting, nicely paced scenes and an enjoyable roller-coaster ride of suspense. Was it better than #1? I would say they were equal and separate as they are two completely different movies with a thin line connecting them.
You can watch both in one night, like I did, but you might need to take a break from horror, as I will..for a long time. Enough gore is enough for awhile.
(Okay, not too long. I still have the remake, A Nightmare on Elm Street to see next month it is my favorite horror series of all time, after all.)