This is my first step back into a franchise I have already reviewed during this lockdown. My review of 'Cabin Fever' (2002) saw me describe it as a fun film, if not actually very good. This meant that I was expecting very little from the film's sequel, 'Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever' (2009). For one, it came out 7 years after the original film. Never a good sign. Two, it was straight to DVD. Again, it was looking ominous. And three, it is almost universally panned. These three aspects meant that I went into the film with the lowest of expectations. Well, maybe the lockdown is getting to me and I am losing my mind but my god I really, really enjoyed this film. I'm not joking. The film follows on from the ending of the first film where the disease has now infected the water supply. Luckily for us there is a huge shipment of water being delivered to a nearby high school the day of the prom. You can probably see where this is going. Our protagonist is John (Noah Segan) who along with his friend Alex (Rusty Kelley) are attempting to find dates for prom. John wants to go with Cassie (Alex Wasser) who he is in love with but whose boyfriend Marc (Marc Senter) is a massive knob head and hates John. After the two initially decide against going to prom Alex gets a date and forces John to join him. While there the virus starts to spread and a mysterious force puts the school in lockdown, leaving everyone inside to die.
Like the first film, this film has a super simple narrative. Where as the first film was your classic cabin in the woods horror, this film is a classic teen rom-com with the virus elements thrown in. A big issue I had with the original film was that despite it being described as a horror-comedy it never managed to really capture either. Well, this film took all that comedic side of the original film and turned it up to 11. I was consistently laughing at this film . It is not a witty script with super smart comedy, in fact it is pretty bottom of the barrel stuff at times. But it is so ridiculous and stupid and dumb and over the top. I just couldn't keep the smile off my face. Of those four adjectives, over the top is definitely the most prevalent one. The gore in this film is absurd. Projectile blood vomit is prevalent and there are several moments of comedy gore which had me rolling. But there are also moments of genuinely horrific gore. In the original film there was one moment of gore in particular that really had me squirming. That moment now looks like a cake walk compared to the worst moment of gore in this film. I won't spoil it but it made me gag. The effects on all the gore is done really well. Its not realistic at all, but it fits in with the tone of the rest of the film and manages to enhance it. This film of course is not perfect (far from it) and has some moments where it possibly goes to far or is a little problematic. But for the most part it stays at a great level of ridiculous fun that I couldn't help but really enjoy.
The acting in the film is not great. There isn't one person who stands out as being particularly horrible, but equally there is no one who stands out as being particularly great either. If you were to pick anyone out as having the 'best' performance it would probably be Noah Segan as John. He does a decent job at playing nerdy and nervous at the start of the film and portrays a new found sense of heroism as the film goes on. It isn't an incredible performance, but it is fine and does the job. But genuinely, at the end of the day, who the hell cares. No one is watching this film for the stellar acting, no one is expecting the next Daniel Day Lewis to be found among the talent in this film. When you sit down and watch a film like this you know exactly what you're getting. I wan't expecting all that much from this film, and incredible acting was definitely not something I was betting on when I pressed play. In the end, the acting was probably the only aspect of the film that matched my lowly expectations.
After watching this film I went and looked at some of the reviews for it. Oh boy there was a lot of hate for this film. The thing is, I can totally see why. If you're going in with a love of the first film expecting more of the same you're not going to get it. If you're going in expecting a proper horror film you're not going to get it. If you're a gore hound going in wanting realistic and horrific gore you are only going to get it in small doses. But, if you go into this film knowing it is ridiculous and over the top and knowing that it is not a serious film in any respect then you will enjoy it. I definitely recommend it. Fuck the consensus and join me in loving this film! (Although I fully expect most people will disagree with me.)