Last night, as part of my pre-FantasticFest revelries, I witnessed the North American premiere of Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever.

This is not a good movie. By any stretch of the imagination. And I could give you a long list of the reasons why it’s horrible (and that list would both start and end with the horrible animated sequences). A long list. Director Ti West has disowned the film, and claims that his edit would have been better, and that’s quite possible, because I must say I did see glimpses of what could have been a decent movie (not good, but decent) in there amidst all the horrible. But the horrible was quite evident.

That said, I must say it was more fun than I expected it to be, and it was more fun than it had any right to be. In particular, Giuseppe Andrews, repeating his performance as Deputy Winston, was always welcome as comic relief, and cameo appearance by Mark Borchardt makes the film a must see for lovers of American Movie and Coven.

And the opening sequence, with a return appearance from Rider Strong, is quite enjoyable. Unfortunately, it’s quickly erased by a god-awful animation sequence.

If you love really bad 80’s horror, this movie will hold a certain charm for you. Especially if you enjoy mocking bad 80’s horror. This movie is quite mock-worthy.

Which brings us to a discussion I had yesterday with some friends. I think many times your enjoyment of a particular film will have more to do with the attitude you walk in than with the actual quality or content of the film. If you walk in looking for “X”, and the film is “Y”, then it’s not going to work for you. I walked in to Cabin Fever 2 expecting it to be really, really, really bad. I also walked in to Cabin Fever 2 with an intense love of the term “Who cares about the logic flaws”? It has necrotizing fasciitis. It exceeded my expectations, and I get to use “Who cares about the logic flaws? It has necrotizing fasciitis” in my review, so it’s a win-win.

We stuck around for the Q&A afterwards. The audience, myself included, were well behaved and no one asked the obvious question (“Where’s Ti West?), because the answer was also obvious (“He hates what they’ve done to this movie!). Still, one of the most awkward Q&A’s ever. The cast was clearly not feeling the love for the film, no one wanted to talk, foot in mouth disease struck a few times . . . it was like watching a train wreck, but without the good parts.

Should you see Cabin Fever 2? Yeah, I think you should. At home, with good friends who like to laugh at bad movies. It’s not unwatchable – I’ve seen Seventh Moon, Cabin Fever 2 is fucking brilliant in comparison. As long as you go in expecting a bad movie, you’ll have a good time.

Except for the animation.