Flesh eating virus tales have been around for ages. I recently watched Creepshow 2 (that was made back in 1987), where a blubber in the water fed on the somewhat meaty fleshes of horny teenagers and the contrast between what is actually killing these individuals off as well as what is unseen to the eye, seems to be a topic that all generations have come to known.

The original Cabin Fever aired in 2002 and I excitedly rounded up all my anti-horror friends with promises of no monsters, villains, or killers of that kind. Indeed I  remained true to my part as the kind of killer went unsaid.When the skin unfettered itself from the bone and the shenanigans began, my friends went on a rant to declare the movie a horror film.

Eli Roth directed the first Cabin Fever with a vision that came from a real life experience of when he encountered a skin infection while on vacation. This spanned the Cabin Fever series, with the latest: Cabin Fever: Patient Zero; predecessor to Cabin Fever and Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever. In Patient Zero, the viewer’s finally get to see the origin of the outbreak.

The screen play was written by Jake Wade Wall and was shot in the beautiful Dominican Republic. The film, directed by Kaare Andrews, rivals Roth’s stomach churning visuals but doesn’t quite keep up the original concept.

Patient Zero stars Sean Astin who plays Porter, an individual that is immune to the flesh eating virus. Porter has become somewhat of a lab rat as he is repeatedly tested on in an cage. Being in captivity for so long causes Porter to go crazy and with due right; he is longer considered a “human”. On the same island that Porter is being tested on, Marcus (Mitch Ryan) and his band of friends and family are celebrating his bachelor party and they decide to take a trip to an island that “is not even on the map.”

Well, as all know how that goes folks.

In the trailer, we see a mutilated swordfish and the remains of what appears to be various types of ocean life floating in the water. This could be the first origination of how the virus spread. As we all may remember, it appeared that water was the medium that transmitted the flesh eating virus in Cabin Fever.

As with most horror trilogies, the story line seemed to be a bit blurred as the characters try to fight off a virus that could inevitably ax off all the humans in the world. I mean, come on, it’s a killer virus! I felt that the plot didn’t quite pack the punch you would expect. Patient Zero was supposed to bring the viewers a look as to how the entire virus had started and there were areas that the film had opportunities to present a better picture.

In Andrews defense, all three of the movies in the Cabin Fever franchise span very different types of events, so creating a flick that embodies the elements of the previous two movies would have been nearly impossible.

The characters are a mess in my eyes in the realm that they are not believable. The scientists don’t seem to know what is going on half the time and as the viewer soon finds out, they are tad bit unorganized. I mean come on, these scientists look like they are dressed to walk on the moon or dance on a pole [enter hot scientist with the big boobs] rather than experiment from behind a glass wall on a patient that might save the world.

As an ending, if you enjoy the Cabin Fever series, you might take a liking to Patient Zero. However, don’t hold your breath in the mutilated fish infested waters, as you might come out a bit scathed.

SEE OUR OTHER REVIEW ON CABIN FEVER PATIENT ZERO HERE