"Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever" DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review (2010)

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

"Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever"

By our guest blogger, Jeremy Wilkinson

"Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever" is a horror movie sequel that came out seven years after the original and features a new principal cast. It also went straight to DVD. Poor "Spring Fever" was doomed from the get-go.

The movie picks up right after the events of the first film. That nasty infection from the first film has made its way out of the woods and into the bottles of the Down Home Water company. After a truck brings the infected goods to a high school, we are introduced to the main characters. John (Noah Segan) is one of the smartest kids at Generic High School #23. His best friend is Alex (Rusty Kelley), the comedic counterpart to John's seriousness. John has a crush on Cassie (Alexi Wasser), who is dating the school jerk, Marc (Marc Senter). When John hears that Cassie and Marc broke up, Alex tries to convince him to ask the girl to prom. Meanwhile, characters are beginning to drink the tainted water. How long will it take the disease to spread?

Not too long.

The movie starts out with a bang and, sadly, it's the highest point of the movie. "Spring Fever" isn't as cringe-worthy as some other recent horror efforts, but it's not even close to being a masterpiece. It's barely a guilty pleasure. What makes this film fail is that it falls just below mediocrity. It's not bad enough to seriously mock, but not good enough to really praise. It tries, but only succeeds on one occasion.

You sympathize with the characters you're supposed to sympathize with, but none of the high school kids stand out. Giuseppe Andrews (as police officer Winston) gives the best performance in the movie. He's funny in most of the scenes he's in, but his story is the 'B' story.

"Spring Fever" attempts to combine gore with elements of comedy, but neither truly work. While some people are funny (Andrews), there are no laugh-out-loud hilarious scenes. And while the copious amounts of blood will please splatter fans, there are missed opportunities here. The infection is supposed to be a flesh-eating virus, but there's a distinct lack of rot. Seems like a waste of a good concept. All of the blood (and how it's spilled) makes the movie too disgusting to a viewer who is not inclined to horror. However, it's not disgusting enough to make gorehounds say to each other: “Oh, wow. Did you see that? That was so cool!” In addition, what would have otherwise been a decent ending is ruined by an epilogue that feels tacked on.

If "Spring Fever" was a person, you'd pat it on the back, give it a weak smile and say, “Well, you tried, buddy.” "Cabin Fever" had some serious flaws, but the concept was solid. This new movie just feels like a ho-hum effort that could have been something good. If you never see "Spring Fever," you won't be missing much.

Grade: C-

View the movie trailer for "Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever" below. What are your thoughts?