Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever DVD Review
Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever DVD Review
Don't drink the water.
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It's in the water… and it's in the style of a John Waters film. In fact, I daresay Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever is reminiscent of Bad Taste — and Superbad — and it isn't half-bad. What it also isn't, is anything like its predecessor, Eli Roth's Cabin Fever. Cabin Fever was a gross film about a flesh-eating virus that gets into the water supply of a small town too, but aside from a couple of quick actor cameos and a nod or two, that's where the similarities end.
Unknown director Ti West (a friend of Roth's) took this project on, only to have things go horribly wrong with the studio and producers — in the end, he tried to have his name removed from the project but was unable to do so, powerless as he was not a member of the DGA. In between the time he wrapped and the studio did unauthorized reshoots, West's next film, 2009's House of the Devil was released and critically acclaimed (if not financially successful). I'd only ever seen House of the Devil before popping the Cabin Fever 2 disc into my player, and while I must say each film could not be more different from the other, a filmmaker's distinct touch is evident in both. My understanding is that West's footage for Cabin Fever 2 comprises over 90% of the film, with only the ending changed and with a few things toned down.
Toned down!? Well, if that is the case, then I am glad I only had to keep one bottle of Extra-Strength Pepto Bismol handy while watching Cabin Fever 2. I am no fan of the "gross out" comedy, but I usually don't have the physical gag reactions I did when watching this flick. Even the cartoon "Ren & Stimpy" style opening sequence is pretty disgusting, but that's only illustration. I know the prosthetics and makeup are phony too, of course, but oh… way too realistic for my taste.
If you're like me, the bile will start to rise when you see one of the teenage characters get "lucky" via BJ in the filthy stall of the school boys' lavatory. The shapely girl who seduces him is good looking enough at first glance, but then he sees she has wickedly sharp and protruding metal braces on her teeth… and on her lower lip is a festering sore with white pus bubbling under the surface of a barely-contained blister. Like any red-blooded boy, he says "What the hell," and goes for it anyway. Several scenes later, we see the revolting effect of that mouth-to-member contact and boy-oh-boy, do we see it. There's also a sex-in-the-pool sequence involving a grossly overweight, completely nude female student whose nether-skin not only sloughs off during the act, but whose loose, rotting teeth fall into her partner's mouth while kissing. He then proceeds to vomit into her mouth. And then there's the miscarriage scene… I'll say no more. In short, Cabin Fever 2 will not only make you lose your lunch, you'll never want to eat lunch again — not to mention losing your appetite for amore in the process. NOT a date movie!
The above things alone would be enough to steer me clear of Cabin Fever 2 for this lifetime and the next, but there's more. So much more… Pranks at the prom involving spiking the punch bowl with various bodily fluids, infected blood shooting into people's mouths, pieces of leprous-like flesh and digits finding their ways into places you don't ever want to see, and so on. I don't know how the Special Effects Supervisor David Hill sleeps at night. (But whatever knockout pills he's taking, I'll bet he doesn't swallow them with Down Home Spring Water!)
If I read this review, or any reviews, before seeing the movie I would have only watched it because I had to. Not because I wanted to. But you know what? I actually liked it (aside from the ending, which is obviously tacked on and modified). It's way too nauseating for my personal taste, but the shocking scenes are very well-done, deftly directed and cleverly written, and the acting is quite good considering the context.
Noah Segan, who you may have seen in 2009's (also revolting) Dead Girl, is the hero of the story. He's the high school loser with the heart of gold whose best friend is a fat, wisecracking nerd (played by Rusty Kelley) and whose object of affection is his lifelong friend and now popular pretty girl, Cassie (played by Alexi Wasser). She's dating the jerkiest jock in school, and so of course there is angst coming from all three in the triangle and a running commentary from the chubby pal who thinks he knows it all. These parts of the film play almost like a John Hughes flick, and there's a definite 80s feel throughout — especially when the senior prom gets under way (most of the mayhem occurs here of course, and there's even a cool nod to the classic horror Prom Night tucked in). The characters are reasonably well-developed and I think that the gore and gross-outs are actually more affecting because the kids aren't just snarky, one-dimensional cardboard cutouts (which isn't to say they aren't clichéd, but that's not a problem).
Cabin Fever 2 is definitely extreme and it's not seamless as it leaps from a close-up on a disintegrating penis, then on over to an emotional declaration of love between two other characters, then skip-jumps to a comedy of errors occurring at the local police station — but overall, I've gotta say I liked it. I will probably never watch it again, but all things considered I wasn't the least bit disappointed.
Extras on the DVD include behind the scenes interviews with the three main actors (none, unfortunately from cameo-kings Judah Friedlander, Michael Bowen, or Rider Strong — and not even a glimpse of director West), plus a "gross-out reel" (even I couldn't bring myself to watch that last one!).
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson