Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever may be the best of the franchise, which isn’t saying much since it may be the one franchise with a virus outbreak that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy. It is the sequel to Eli Roth’s first film. It basically starts where the first one finished albeit there has to be a lot of suspension of disbelief in order for the movie to proceed. There is a clever media change during the opening credits that is reminiscent of One Crazy Summer’s animation sequences. It fills in some plot points in a more visually interesting way and lightens the tone of the film in contrast to its predecessor. Whereas the first film went for cheap gags and an undercurrent of foreboding, but was aiming for gross horror, not gross horror humor, this film seems to care more about getting laughs over scares while still delivering on the grossness and contrasting the levity of the characters with the gravity of the situation.
Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever feels a bit like a homage to Brian De Palma’s Carrie if only because all the horror is set around prom night. The high school backdrop lends a credibility lacking in the first film in which young adults are somehow still squeamish of bodies on a good day whereas the body horror as a metaphor for adolescents’ discomfort, lack of familiarity and preoccupation with bodies works. If you don’t know that something is unusual, why would a character be alarmed; thus the threat can increase without making the characters seem stupid. The misogynistic dialogue between friends snapped and sounded slightly more clever than real life, which made it feel more organic and wittier than the Neanderthal college students in the first film who started all this mess. Ordinary fascination and horror of girls can be attributed to sex as simultaneously enticing, repulsive and dangerous. Even without a fatal viral outbreak, it is a roll of the dice.
Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever also uses the high school setting and the sudden motivation to survive that requires a necessity for some level of violent action to examine the alarming outbreak of violence among students when it is given even the slightest permission to be released. Without belaboring the point or feeling like an afterschool special, it touches on issues of bullying and abusive romantic relationships that feels viscerally consequential. The stakes seem high, and a viewer would be genuinely concerned for the characters’ safety outside of the viral outbreak, which means the movie definitely got something right.
Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever also had a better general supporting cast that hit different notes instead of striking the same one like an overly long Saturday Night Live skit near the end of the episode. The school seems populated with moderately more sophisticated people than the original so even though it is set in the same location, the likeability of the characters skyrocket. The high school students, one of whom looks forty, are savvier than the visitors ever were since they ascertain fairly early the threat that they face. A couple of characters appear in this sequel for wildly varying lengths of time, and the detour of one is mildly amusing since he crosses path with a brief cameo by 30 Rock’s Judah Friedlander. Horror staple, Larry Fessenden, even makes a brief appearance. I do have to take away one point from the film. No single character comes across as well rounded or aspirational, but most are generally likeable or familiar, even if pitiable, but the black woman character is depicted as ineffective, dumb and a screamer, not because it works in the broader context of the film for laughs, but because that could be how the filmmakers generally perceive them. One point for a blink and you miss it gay character who is stuck in a trope normally reserved for heterosexual couples. Fortunately I did not have particular favorites among the students. A few characters took turns in the spotlight, but the person who stole the show at the end was a dark horse.
Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever seems to have a George Romero pessimistic view of the role of government during an emergency. At its worst, it is harmful to the public and its efforts to protect the greater good. At its best, it is negligent, relatable, but ultimately unsuited to wield any responsibility or even to protect oneself. Overall this aspect of the story feels more like an afterthought than a focal point or a fully explored theme in comparison to the social dynamic of high school. It is an excuse to create more confrontations between characters.
Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever does suffer the same problem that the other films have: why do infected people still move forward and scream while they are bleeding profusely? I know that they want treatment theoretically, but those actions would not convey it. I know that virus carriers can be psychologically influenced by the virus to exhibit behavior that will increase the likelihood of contagion, but bleeding is exhausting, and I imagine painful so while these images evoke a zombie outbreak vibe, increased movement does not actually make sense. It would hurt too much.
Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever occasionally showed flashes of brilliance that indicated there was a good movie in there somewhere, but some factor got in the way. Apparently the studio had a heavy hand in the final cut, ignored stories offered by Roth and other experienced horror writers then wouldn’t let the director remove his name from the movie even though they would also not allow him full reign over the film. The dissonance between the high points and the general tone of the movie is a chasm that is sadly unbreachable so unfortunately the films lacks consistency. The bright points may not be sufficient to warrant a single viewing because they seem to decrease in frequency proportionate to their distance from the beginning; however they never entirely exit the movie. There is a post credits sequence so if you do watch the movie, only press pause, not stop or eject when you get to the denouement.
I only watched Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever because I’m a completist, and I uncharacteristically watched the third in the franchise first because it was the only one most readily available. I basically watched the franchise in order of home viewing convenience. For some reason, this installment was the last to be released for home consumption. I have no interest in checking out the remake of the first film. To be clear, this film is not good, but when you see almost nothing good in a franchise then expect the same from the second film, but get moderately better, it feels way better than it actually is.