Cabin Fever (2016)

Directed by Travis Zariwny [Other horror films: Intruder (2016), World of Death (2016, segment ‘Manicure’), The Midnight Man (2016), Lensface (2020), Punk Rock Cannibals (2021)]

Prior to reviewing this, I wanted to make sure that everyone knows I have little love for the original Cabin Fever. Aside from a cute actress, I thought it was a good idea butchered by a sloppy direction and overall needlessly comedic. For this remake, a few of the problems are fixed, but it’s not altogether that much better a movie (though I do feel it’s a better movie).

What they did right: most of the comedic elements are taken out of this version (though some of the stupidity remains, such as the Pancakes kid), which is a step in the right direction. The last twenty minutes went in a different direction, and while there were problems (I’ll get into them later), overall, I felt the ending was decently stronger.

Onto the bad, the main issue is that the first half of the film is a scene-by-scene, line-by-line copy of the original, give or take a few lines, which really should not be the point of a remake, in my opinion. Still, it was a better first half than the original, which at the very least is something. Deputy Winston, the party cop, was a major problem I had with the original, and while the character (played this time by a female) still has those party tenancies, there’s a slight redemption near the end. The same hillbilly idiots in the original film are present here also, and do the same idiotic actions.

On the upside, the local authorities seem to be actually dealing with the contagion as opposed to covering it up. Really, the end as a whole is better, but there were two portions that seemed unnecessary, one including the Pancakes Boy and a post-credit scene that seemed beyond pointless.

The main problem with this remake is that it tries to be the original movie, keeping the script, as opposed to using the ideas from the original and crafting a new story, which would have had been ideal. This remake wasn’t something we needed, but it was moderately welcomed. At the very least, it was better than the original. Still lacks much of what I’d have wished for in a movie about a flesh-eating disease, though.

5/10