Cabin Fever 3: Patient Zero - DVD

Content: Before Marcus (Mitch Ryan) is to marry his fiancée Kate (Claudette Lali) on a Caribbean island, his brother Josh (Brando Eaton), best buddy Dobs (Ryan Donowho) and best friend Penn (Jillian Murray) whisk him away on a yacht for a very special bachelor party. On a small, deserted island, the four want to really let off steam. But unfortunately, the island is not deserted, there is a secret research laboratory. And trapped inside is Mr. Porter (Sean Astin), the first patient of a steadily spreading plague who seems immune to the deadly virus. As the doctors desperately try to create a cure with the help of Mr. Porter, the flesh-eating virus continues to spread on the island as well, not even stopping Marcus and his friends...

With Cabin Fever, Eli Roth had delivered a little genre gem in 2002. Old school horror coupled with some humor, very bizarre interludes and successful disgust effects quickly made the story about a flesh-eating virus a cult film among horror fans. In 2009, the sequel was followed up, which, however, met with the approval of only a few fans of the original. Plate gags, exaggerated disgust interludes and a very trashy implementation led to the fact that hardly anyone wanted another sequel. But now it's coming to the stores anyway - and that's a good thing. Because qualitatively Cabin Fever 3: Patient Zero is superior to its failed predecessor by far.

In the beginning, director Kaare Andrews approaches the matter much more straightforward than Eli Roth in the original. While there was also an ironic undertone very quickly, this is completely missing in the third part at first. As a result, the movie gets lost in very worn out genre clichés at the beginning. The characters are drawn in an absolutely stencil-like way and the dramaturgy is built up in an extremely predictable way. But as soon as the friends are dropped off on the island and exposed to the virus, the fun really starts for the viewer. Because not only that it is now beautifully disgusting and the special effects team in terms of gore may run to the best form. Now Andrews also repeatedly puts the humor on the day, which has led in the first film for some very memorable scenes. The climax is an absurdly brutal duel that literally goes down to the wire.

While it never achieves the cult appeal of the original, the production is still very straightforward even in moments like this, relying on the David Lynch-inspired quirky moments that Eli Roth incorporated into his film. Still, after a bit of a bumpy start, Cabin Fever 3: Patient Zero is a very accomplished horror treat that ably continues the tradition of the first installment. And at the end, the makers have also included a successful twist that points to a fourth part, which is already in planning. If you liked Roth's first movie and can overlook the many clichés at the beginning, you will definitely get your money's worth here. Worth seeing!

Image + Sound: The DVD's image looks very clean and pleases with a decent overall sharpness that can be mostly maintained even in the darker scenes. However, the powerful colour scheme stands out particularly positively, showing off the amount of blood that is spilled here in very strong red. The audio presents the dialogue very centrally mixed, but also has plenty of sound effects to offer, providing pleasant surround dynamics. Good!

Extras: Except for the trailer for the film and other program tips, the DVD unfortunately has no bonus material to offer.

Conclusion:After a disastrous second part is Cabin Fever 3: Patient Zero a much more worthy sequel to Eli Roth's cult film of 2002. Although the whole is much more straightforward, than the original, but also offers here and there still some moments of quite weird horror. Bloody and entertaining, that's how this third chapter in the Cabin Fever series presents itself, to be followed shortly by another sequel. That can come after this successful part gladly. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp