Review: Cabin in the Woods
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Well, this is certainly the most fun I’ve had watching a horror movie in a while. Drew Goddard’s film Cabin in the Woods is much more than horror movie, it’s a deconstruction of everything the horror genre and those who watch them. This review will probably be maddening for those you who haven’t seen the film because I won’t go into the details of the movie. But it’s for your own good! However, I won’t leave you completely high and dry. The main plot line concerns a group of friends who travel to a cabin in the woods and are subjected to the horrors of a group of undead crazy family members that pop up after they read some Latin from a girl’s journal. Unbeknownst to them, its not the Latin that awakens them but the CHOICE they made in reading it and a secret organization whose reps played by Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford who are tasked with trying to kill them (essentially).
This movie is a great examination of the horror genre, subverting many of the tropes while also using them. The main characters are a typical nearly white (might as well be all white, love Jesse Williams but no) group of friends: the whore, the jock (who is a sociology major), the intellectual (who’s also a football player), the stoner and the virgin (who in the 2nd scene is revealed not to be). The couple played by Chris Hemsworth and Anna Hutchinson who are the typical horny white couple. However they’re sexy times are aided not just by alcohol, but by pheromones and a temperature increase that Richard Jenkins’ character adds with the help of a control panel. Little things like that are great because they are literal representations of the absurdity of the horror cliches. The movie builds on these and other issues, flashing between the group of friends and the “game makers”, while also telling its own story.
Although I enjoyed the movie, as it builds to its climax, it starts to unravel. While several of the latter sequences are superbly timed, the meta aspects of the movie take you out of the characters plight. I believe this was the director’s intention, but it kep me from staying with the movie for the whole running time. But after an amazing WTF cameo and a bat shit crazy ending, I was glad I saw the film. I know many people who are saying this is a horror movie for those who don’t like horror movies and it is to an extent (there’s some gore but not a lot). However as a horror fan, this movie is essentially a conversation between the director/writer and the audience about the complexity and true nature of horror, as well as what we want to see in a scary movie.
I’d definitely recommend seeing this with a group of friends, late at night, for maximum enjoyment.
Grade: B, A fun romp through horror cliches and scares builds to satisfying, if slightly implausible ending.
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This is a movie that's worth seeing for the clever story and for all of the hype it's been getting for the past 3 years. And the less you say about it to your friends, the better just convince them to go with you because it's a hell of a fun time no matter how many times you've seen it. Good review Terence. Give mine a look when you can.