My quick rating - 4.3/10. Before City Wide Fever even starts, I was already entertained. Not by the movie itself, mind you, but by the creepy laughing kid with glowing red eyes in the Baby Josh distributor logo. Somehow that little guy ended up being one of the more memorable characters in the entire flick.
The actual film opens with random city footage rolling beneath the credits before settling on a young film student named Sam (Diletta Guglielmi), who discovers a USB stick lying on the ground. As one does. That discovery quickly leads her down a rabbit hole involving forgotten Italian horror director Saturnino Barresi and his mysterious disappearance. Naturally, things soon involve dreams, masked attackers, straight razors, conspiracies, and one of Barresi's films conveniently being titled City Wide Fever.
At first, I wasn't entirely sure what was happening, but I do watch everything. The problem is I don't know if they were entirely sure what was going on either.
Director Josh Heaps is clearly aiming for an homage to both Giallo films and the VHS era of low-budget filmmaking. The concept of placing a Giallo-obsessed film student inside what gradually becomes her own Giallo nightmare is actually a decent idea. Unfortunately, City Wide Fever never feels quite as clever as it believes itself to be. I recently reviewed Lisa and the Devil, which has a master of giallo, Mario Bava, in one of his lesser-acclaimed films, showing us how it is done.
The production itself screams micro-budget. The camera work often has that smartphone-shot feel, while the aspect ratio gives everything a strange pan-and-scan look. The acting ranges from stiff to outright awkward. Several scenes feel like they were filmed guerrilla-style throughout New York without permits. To be fair, that does occasionally help the atmosphere. The city feels authentic because I bet they just wandered onto a street and started filming.
I spent a good chunk of the movie wondering if I missed something important because two different actresses were playing the main character. Eventually we sorta get an explanation, but I didn't get some mind-blowing revelation. I got a gimmick that I didn't see a reason for in the first place.
There are moments where the film almost wins me over. A throat-slitting effect looked surprisingly good considering the budget, especially when compared to some of the rougher practical effects elsewhere. Her roommate Chloe (Angelica Kim) also earned bonus points simply for rocking a Slipknot shirt. Sometimes it's the little things.
The comedy tag is another interesting choice. My guess is the music selections, which often feel intentionally bizarre. Whether they're supposed to be funny, satirical, or simply odd is up for debate.
In the end, City Wide Fever feels like Heaps is paying tribute to the movies he loves while poking fun at the whole movie-making process itself. I do appreciate the effort, the ambition, and the obvious love for Giallo cinema. Unfortunately, appreciation and enjoyment are not the same thing. There are ideas here, but the execution never quite comes together. It's an interesting experiment that constantly reminds you how smart it thinks it is, yet it never truly proves it.
https://jackmeat.com/city-wide-fever-2026/
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