Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Cabin Fever: Patient Zero Blu-ray Movie Review

The Wedding Is Definitely Off

Reviewed by Michael Reuben August 31, 2014

The Cabin Fever franchise was started by Eli Roth in 2002 with a film inspired by a skin infection that the writer/director developed during a trip abroad. Made on a tiny budget, the film was a major success for Lionsgate and launched Roth's career. The 2009 sequel, Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, was not such a happy experience. Director Ti West was so displeased with the changes made by the film's producers that he asked to have his name replaced with the infamous brand of shame, "Alan Smithee", but the request was denied, because West was not a member of the Directors Guild.

Cabin Fever: Patient Zero is one of a pair of prequels announced in 2012, of which the second has apparently now been abandoned. With a script by Jake Wade Wall, who wrote the remakes of The Hitcher and When a Stranger Calls, and directed by Canadian graphic artist Kaare Andrews, Patient Zero purports to take us back to the beginning, when the deadly flesh-eating virus that wreaked such havoc in the first two films first announced its presence. But it's not as if Patient Zero actually explains the thing. It just gives the series a refreshing change of venue and provides Andrews with interesting new locations. The focus of the series remains the same: blood, entrails, dissolving skin and a variation on the walking dead who seem to retain their endless fascination for modern audiences. The fresh angle in Wall's script is that he plays out the story in two separate locales, either one of which could have supplied the setting for an entire horror film. Kaare juggles them effectively until, late in the film, they finally collide.

The "Patient Zero" of the title is a man named Porter (Sean Astin), who, in a jaggedly cut opening, we see being extracted from some sort of campsite in the Dominican Republic by figures in Hazmat suits. Porter is the only survivor. Everyone else at the site has been killed by the flesh-eating virus, which, like the supercharged version of Ebola in Outbreak, devours its victim in a matter of hours.

Porter finds himself imprisoned in an underground facility, isolated from all contact and subjected to intensive research by a team led by Dr. Edwards (Currie Graham). Heartbroken over the loss of his son, who accompanied him on the camping trip, he demands to speak with his wife, but is denied all contact. Camila (Solly Duran), a sympathetic lab technician, is the only member of the research team who treats him as a person. Everyone else is preoccupied with learning why Porter survived the virus and with using his natural immunity to develop a cure. As months pass, Porter grows increasingly desperate and begins formulating a plan for escape or, barring escape, revenge. As he tells Camila, the virus in his blood makes him much more dangerous to them than they are to him.

While this twisted tale of scientific experiments unfolds, elsewhere a more classic horror scenario develops, as Marcus (Mitch Ryan, One Tree Hill) prepares to wed Katia (Claudette Lali), daughter of a wealthy Dominican businessman. Marcus' younger brother, Josh (Brando Eaton, Dexter), and best friend, Dobbs (Ryan Donowho, Soldiers of Fortune), have organized an overnight bachelor party on a deserted island where they can drink, fish, snorkel and smoke weed. Also accompanying them is Penny (Jillian Murray, Visible Scars), who grew up with Marcus and Josh and is "one of the guys", even though she is currently Josh's girlfriend. What Josh doesn't know is that Penny and his older brother used to be an item—and they still have feelings for each other. In fact, Penny thinks Marcus' marriage to Katia may be a mistake. The potential for emotional drama abounds.

The first sign of real trouble appears when Penny and Josh go snorkeling, but there are no fish in the water, just maimed carcasses. Then strange rashes appear. From there the situation deteriorates rapidly. Far out of range of their small radios, with the boat for their return to the mainland not expected until morning, the group has little choice but to explore the island hoping that it isn't truly deserted.

Patient Zero doesn't stint on gore effects, and some of those effects reflect the same twisted sense of humor that first gave the Cabin Fever franchise its distinctive appeal for genre fans. I won't spoil any of the surprises, but let's just say that, when a particular object is given to Marcus as a joke bachelor party gift, you can be sure it will reappear at an opportune moment later in the film. What is especially worthwhile about Patient Zero, though, is how Wade's script ultimately connects the medical investigation with the bachelor party. There's the obvious, of course—as they're approaching the island, the revelers notice what appears to be an abandoned structure at one end—but then there are some unexpected elements that continue to be revealed even during the credits. Be sure to keep watching.

Cabin Fever: Patient Zero Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Cabin Fever: Patient Zero was shot on a Red Epic camera by cinematographer Norm Li (Afflicted), then finished on a digital intermediate from which Image Entertainment's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray was presumably sourced. Reflecting the customary virtues of digital capture, the image is clean, sharp and detailed, to the extent that the many scenes shot at night permit detail to appear. At numerous point, darkness and shadow are strategically deployed to help "sell" the elaborate makeup effects, as well as the CG enhancements that makes them even more disgusting. Black levels are very good, as they would have to be for a film where so much of the story occurs either at night or in darkened underground passages. In portions where brighter color is required—e.g., the reception thrown by the bride's parents or the approach to and arrival on the island by the bachelor party—the tropical environment is richly and beautifully rendered. If not for the flesh-eating virus, it would be a paradise.

With no extras to consume space, Image has delivered an average bitrate of 25.98 Mbps, which is very good for a digitally originated project and has ensured an artifact-free presentation.

Cabin Fever: Patient Zero Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Patient Zero's 5.1 track, encoded as lossless DTS-HD MA, delivers the shocks, blows, screams and terror with appropriate impact. The track isn't subtle, but it's effective. Less bombastic scenes like the snorkeling expedition are perhaps a better indication of the track's quality, because the viewer is immersed in the surrounding ocean, while a sense of foreboding grows as the camera captures the snorkelers' point of view, devoid of marine life. In the medical facility, where developments trigger various crises and alerts, the panic and chaos sound convincingly real. The effective horror score is by Kevin Riepl (Silent Night ).

Cabin Fever: Patient Zero Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The disc contains no extras. At startup it plays trailers for Aftermath, All Cheerleaders Die and Wolf Creek 2, which can be skipped with the chapter forward button and are not otherwise available once the disc loads.

Cabin Fever: Patient Zero Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Cabin Fever: Patient Zero marks a return to form for the franchise and even delivers something new with the team led by Currie Graham's morally ambiguous Dr. Edwards. Both the characters and the performers in the crew of sacrificial lambs in the bachelor party are a cut above the usual gang of nubile victims, and their interactions have more emotional heft than one typically expects from genre horror. At the same time, director Andrews never forgets what his core audience came to see. The fate of one especially troublesome medical worker alone will have horror fans cheering. Recommended for the genre crowd (and you know who you are).