Set on a remote island, Kaare Andrews directs the story of a bachelor party under attack from a flesh eating virus. All the while, hidden away, the one man who holds the key to a cure is held captive in a hidden research facility.
At the centre of the film is Sean Astin as Porter, the one person who is immune to the virus. After losing his son to the virus Porter finds himself being held captive by unscrupulous scientists more interested in making a profit than finding a cure.
The other focus of the film is Mitch Ryan as Marcus. Ryan is perfectly believable in a role where he’s struggling to move on with his life, dealing with the guilt of leaving his less successful friends and family behind.
The supporting cast is desperately uneven. The bachelor party all put in good performances but sadly the scientists are uniformly poor. This is exacerbated by the fact the weakest cast members all play opposite the genuinely decent actor of Astin.
Given this is the third instalment in the series, it could be forgiven for being void of ideas, but Patient Zero has more than enough to see it through to the end. Corrupt scientists are nothing new in genre films, that the ill treatment of Porter has made him just as much a threat is a nice little touch.
The film isn’t afraid to take the time to set up its plot and characters properly. Both Astin and Ryan have back stories that give their characters a little bit of weight. The bachelor party was portrayed well, showing the tensions and jealousies that can occur when a group member decides to move on.
The tone of the film is split down the middle. One half borders on camp 1970s horror with the other half more akin to an indie flick. What makes it all the more perplexing is that it’s the scientists who are tongue and cheek with the bachelor party being relatively serious. As a result the film jars back and forth between introspective youngsters on a beach to bizarre cleavage busting scientists in a secret laboratory.
As a result, even though there is a memorable sex scene, because the film has tried to be somewhat serious at the start when a particular cat fight at the end occurs it feels completely out of place and ridiculous.
As the film draws to a close there are some clunky scenes that could easily have been avoided and is surprising in a film where many other elements were so well executed.
The film does end on a high with a clever twist similar to the Saw series, but it’s not enough to atone for the many failings this film has.
For a series into its third instalment there are plenty of ideas left. Let’s just hope in the next sequel the cast is stronger and the director has a clearer idea of the kind of film they wish to make.
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