Traditionally, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors utilize absorption of light radiation incident upon noble metal films above the total internal reflection angles. Herein we extend the SPR phenomenon to incorporate cavity plasmon resonance (CPR) excitation of metallic films at incidence angles below the critical angle. While SPR occurs for TM polarized light only and requires very specific excitation conditions, which could be disadvantageous in some practical designs, CPR does not require complicated evanescent field excitation above the critical total internal reflection angle and can be implemented for both transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) fields even under normal incidence (TEM). These and other unique features of CPR enable a more flexible design of highly efficient and sensitive biosensing devices.