Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009)

Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever

Starring: Noah Segan, Alexi Wasser, Giuseppe Andrews

Director: Ti West (more or less)

Following the closing events of the first film, a bottling company named “Down Home Water” gets their product from the same lake where Deputy Winston dumped Paul’s disease-ridden body. A truckload of the skin-eating H20 is distributed to a nearby high school just days before its prom. And that’s where our story begins…

It seems like I had waited anxiously to see Cabin Fever 2 for a considerable amount of time, and after it was finally released, it still took me roughly a year to get around to it. The film went through many tribulations and spent two years collecting dust before being released, but that had nothing to do with it. I just simply had a million other things to watch, many games to play, etc… Maybe at one point early on I had been skeptical about the project, knowing Eli Roth wasn’t returning, but that skepticism vanished after I had heard Ti West was on board as director. At this point, I had already seen The Roost and loved it (which has sadly changed), so this gave me encouragement that Cabin Fever 2 could be at least decent.

The film suffered through a lot of reshoots and edits; Ti West has from what I understand severed all ties with it, saying that the finished project isn’t his vision. Even hearing about this some time ago, I still wanted to see it, and after watching House of the Devil, I was even more convinced that his problematic sequel could still be okay.

I’m not exactly sure what Lions Gate changed in Cabin Fever 2, but it still gleefully oozes out the feel of a Ti West film. It has that lovable 80’s look and feels reminiscent of many horror classics, and the characters are that of a John Hughes type Universe, if say, Weird Science had a high school prom scene that involved a blood and guts bath. I can’t lie; I really had a blast with this flick!

I was glowing quite a few times during CB2, being a fan of retrospect and imitation sequences. One moment has the characters of John and Cassie walking home from school, the camera follows them in a way that feels like they are being pursued, and the background is a long neighborhood street with large looming trees. It is a commendable homage to the “walking home from school” scene in John Carpenter’s Halloween. Another moment that littered me with goose bumps is a rendition of the dance scene from the original Prom Night. The floor looks like an exact replica, and the actual theme song of the slasher classic is used. There are even a few nods to the first Cabin Fever, involving a love of pancakes and a person in a bunny suit.

There are animated sequences in the beginning and in the end of the picture, and I wasn't fully impressed. The one for the intro is pretty neat; it gives you a run down of what all is going on and has a brief introduction into the setting. It actually sets up groundwork for the plot amazingly. The finale is killed by it. Everything going on in the last few minutes is completely intense; then, rather abruptly, the ending is told with the animation style of the beginning. It seems so tagged on, and it’s a poor excuse for explanation of what happens to some of the supporting characters. I would’ve been more pleased with no details at all.

I am a fan of Body-Horror; scenes in movies that make you want to turn your head but just can’t are sadly too infrequent. We have a lot of that here, though. Quantum Creation FX has the blood-vomit and innards flying out of control, and nothing is sacred. Necrotizing fasciitis invading genitalia was really only hinted at in the first film, here it’s thrown right up in your face, and it sure is disgusting! Most of it is done in an over-the-top fashion, making it easy to laugh off its nastiness. However, there is one scene in a high school shower that put my heart on pause. CB2 has plenty of crass moments to keep the gore-hounds glued!

Acting is better than what you’d expect, and the two leads, John and Cassie (played by Noah Segan and Alexi Wasser), are surprisingly likable. Rusty Kelley plays Alex, the best friend of the male protagonist.  His performance is really a prime example of what makes this movie feel like a real 80’s teen horror romp, but a few times he seems to be trying too hard, and it kills the moment. For cameos we get director, Larry Fessenden (The Last Winter) and Rider Strong, reprising his role from the first film. In addition, Giuseppe Andrews is back as Deputy Winston, a role he was seemingly born to play. Much like in the first film, Winston is secondary to the story at hand, but the character and his endeavors are a stronger aspect this time. Michael Bowen from Lost and Kill Bill Vol. 1 is also on board as high school principal.

So, for being bastardized by the producers and disowned by its director, Cabin Fever 2 isn’t all that damn bad. While it would be interesting to see the full and true vision of Ti West, something tells me that the final product graps the gist of it. I may be wrong, but it has his style splattered on nearly every frame. Apparently, at one point, both Eli Roth (Hostel, Cabin Fever) and Adam Green (Frozen, Spiral) had scripts floating around for this sequel. While that sounds exciting as hell, I can’t say I am really disappointed. Cabin Fever 2 is so likable for how much it differentiates from the first film, while still being a worthy follow-up.