Movie: Cabin in the Woods
By: Maniac E
Date: April 15, 2012
With all the advertisement surrounding Cabin in the Woods you probably going to think this is not going to be pretty. But as Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Drew Goddard (Cloverfield) wants us to believe that this is the ultimate homage film to horror and slasher movies everyone was waiting for. Cabin is a deliciously devious scare dance that keeps changing the steps until you lose your shit and fall helplessly into its demonic traps. Screenwriters Whedon and Goddard , in his feature-directing debut, are fright-obsessed. They're also pissed seeing terror morph into torture porn that drowns the human element in buckets of blood.
On the surface level, the story follows five friends Curt (Chris Hemsworth), Holden (Jesse Williams), Jules (Anna Hutchison), Marty (Fran Kranz) and Dana (Kristen Connolly) as they journey up to an isolated cabin for a weekend of drinking, swimming, truth or dare, and other scandalous behavior typically associated with college student getaways. A pre-trip meet up spells out the group dynamics: Dana is the good girl, Curt and Jules play-against stereotype as a hot blond and jock couple that in addition to good looks are also accomplished students, Holden is Curt's bookish but still charming friend, and Marty is the group's lovable pot-smoker. Once on the road, the group encounter an ill-tempered gas pump attendant that, despite his disdain for the college kids, warns the group about their destination asserting that visitors regularly disappear up in the woods. Dismissing the warnings, the group reach the cabin where, that's right, things quickly devolve into bloody mayhem.
In an effort to prevent spoiling the film for others, I'm not going to directly discuss the "twist" or where the filmmakers take the especially ambitious premise; however, I will say that, for readers who are already interested in checking out the film, it's unlikely that the experience is going to disappoint. The Cabin in the Woods is hardly the most serious, or smartest, horror film audiences will have seen in a while there are plenty of eye-roll-inducing dialogue moments and the over-arching setup might be hard for some moviegoers to accept.
There a lot of been there done that moments in the film which make it sometimes hard to follow because you just wouldn't pay any attention to what is happening. Include this with the dodgy dialogue and it is turning out to be a movie you at first want to forget as soon as possible. You can see that the movie was rushed once it was shoot certain shots just weren't that good. My guess is that Buffy/Angel fans will have the easiest time accepting the film for what it is, having been inoculated to a certain absurd sensibility that becomes completely delightful once you get used to it. Cabin in the woods is funny, it is entirely different, and it is truly going to the more bizarre side.
Cabin in the woods has a certain wicked and twisted fun feel to it until the volume of violence gets cranked up. The gods and monsters of the movie never question their appetite for gutting pretty young things. But you'll question yours for sure before the film's shocking end. Ironically, Cabin was made in 2009 but got stuck in studio limbo when MGM declared bankruptcy. Now Lionsgate has let the beast out. Cabin in the Woods ended up being an enjoyable ride and it makes sure it won't be put on the pile of shitty horror movies. In my opinion they made a bloody mess in a good way!
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