Like the former films in the series, “Cabin Fever 3” doesn’t really offer audiences anything but a ton of gore, and vain attempts at gross out humor. Pile on a helping of misogyny, and you have the recipe for yet another piece of trash in the Eli Roth bred gore series. You can sense the producers really stretching this time around for shocks and splatter that can stun viewers, all the while spending a lot of empty filler on characters we really don’t bother to care about, since they’re there just to rot in a gory bloody pool, anyway. Director Andrews presents a better flair for directing than previous director Eli Roth, so that’s a plus, however minor.
Incidentally, “Patient Zero” has two plots, both of which feel like two very under developed ideas for a “Cabin Fever” sequel that couldn’t fill ninety minutes. Rather than focus on actual patient zero (Sean Astin), we have to also set our sights on four very boring young characters. As is always the case, they’re on a last cruise before their best friend gets married. Of course, they decide to visit an island that happens to be ground zero for the flesh eating virus from the “Cabin Fever” series, and the shit hits the fan very quickly. Meanwhile Sean Astin is a man captured by the government who may or may not be immune to the flesh eating virus, and will do anything to escape imprisonment.
In his attempt to flee, he unleashes the virus on the remaining lab technicians in the facility, and they must deal with the virus while also looking for a cure. What is never explained is what the hell this movie has to do with the former films of the series, and how the virus was created. More so, how the hell did it even get out and spread? Not that there’s any need to explain or extrapolate on that, as Andrews is too consumed with displaying as much grue and splatter as humanly possible. The women get the worst of the punishment, oddly enough, with much of the torture placed on character Penny who seems to suffer for being overly flirtatious with the men in her group.
The performances from the cast are for the most part forgettable, with Sean Astin looking sleepy while playing a role I presume is an important one. I doubt the writers will use his character for future installments, so he seems there just to give our cannon fodder a reason to move from point A to point B. With “Cabin Fever 4: Outbreak” down the pipeline, there isn’t much necessity to tell a straight forward tale and reveal more details about the flesh eating virus, so the writers don’t even try. The best thing I can say about “Patient Zero” is: while it’s awful, it’s at least not unwatchable like “Cabin Fever” and its sequel.