Written by: Kevin Berge
This poster always made me think the cabin was actually some sort of alien spaceship. (Image Courtesy of: thterrortime.com)
Quick Take: The Cabin in the Woods may not be frightening, but it is affectingly gory and intense while being a hysterical satire. Those willing to accept the weird will be sitting down for a ride that is brilliantly written.
***This is a review focusing on the whole plot of The Cabin in the Woods and will contain heavy spoilers including discussion of the ending. Those not wanting to be spoiled should not read further without seeing the movie first.***
I love watching anything Joss Whedon writes. He has a unique brand of comedy and dramatic heart that he brings to everything that makes even the most mundane affecting. The Cabin in the Woods took me a while though simply because I hated horror movies. I hated the idea of being scared.
When I finally got around to it, it took me two watches to fully appreciate the movie. Its satirical approach to portraying the genre is surprisingly subtle with a deep knowledge of the genre that I could not even fully appreciate now. It laughs at the issues with the genre, but it also celebrates it as all great satire should.
While it is not wholly original, it is genuinely great at what it does, taking on the underwritten horror-comedy genre. From the start, it is clear this is a far from conventional story, focusing on a few characters in a massive underground factory with little explanation of what they are doing.
At the same time, we get the pure conventional with a group of five college kids going off to an isolated cabin to enjoy a free weekend. It is obvious they are doomed to fall into the conventional slasher cliches. The heartbroken but endearing Dana (Kristen Connolly), the fun-loving blonde Jules (Anna Hutchinson) with her boyfriend Curt (Chris Hemsworth), and Curt's friends Holden (Jesse Williams) and stoner Marty (Fran Kranz).
How the two sides of the story connect is the meat of the film. While we get to see these kids frightening and sometimes dismembered in gory fashion, it is juxtaposed by the ridiculous people watching the carnage like it is a sport they are orchestrating. It is revealed it is more akin to the group performing pagan sacrificial rituals.
Balancing these insanity and the honest terror is tricky, and it is rare this film is truly frightening. Honestly, the biggest scare might be the jump scare of the opening title (which is itself a commentary on jump scares in horror). However, the action is genuinely suspenseful and certainly gory.
It helps that the characters are mostly endearing as well. While they are forced into stereotypes, the complexity of who they really are makes them easy to root for. Curt may become the stereotypical jock, but we know he is actually a cool and smart guy being forced into terrible situations.
I love watching anything Joss Whedon writes. He has a unique brand of comedy and dramatic heart that he brings to everything that makes even the most mundane affecting. The Cabin in the Woods took me a while though simply because I hated horror movies. I hated the idea of being scared.
When I finally got around to it, it took me two watches to fully appreciate the movie. Its satirical approach to portraying the genre is surprisingly subtle with a deep knowledge of the genre that I could not even fully appreciate now. It laughs at the issues with the genre, but it also celebrates it as all great satire should.
While it is not wholly original, it is genuinely great at what it does, taking on the underwritten horror-comedy genre. From the start, it is clear this is a far from conventional story, focusing on a few characters in a massive underground factory with little explanation of what they are doing.
At the same time, we get the pure conventional with a group of five college kids going off to an isolated cabin to enjoy a free weekend. It is obvious they are doomed to fall into the conventional slasher cliches. The heartbroken but endearing Dana (Kristen Connolly), the fun-loving blonde Jules (Anna Hutchinson) with her boyfriend Curt (Chris Hemsworth), and Curt's friends Holden (Jesse Williams) and stoner Marty (Fran Kranz).
How the two sides of the story connect is the meat of the film. While we get to see these kids frightening and sometimes dismembered in gory fashion, it is juxtaposed by the ridiculous people watching the carnage like it is a sport they are orchestrating. It is revealed it is more akin to the group performing pagan sacrificial rituals.
Balancing these insanity and the honest terror is tricky, and it is rare this film is truly frightening. Honestly, the biggest scare might be the jump scare of the opening title (which is itself a commentary on jump scares in horror). However, the action is genuinely suspenseful and certainly gory.
It helps that the characters are mostly endearing as well. While they are forced into stereotypes, the complexity of who they really are makes them easy to root for. Curt may become the stereotypical jock, but we know he is actually a cool and smart guy being forced into terrible situations.
I honestly think this group of hapless victims would have been much better served fighting the monster ballerina. (Image Courtesy of: filmindublin.ie)
It also helps that Chris Hemsworth is just genuinely likable in a role that was filmed just before he broke out with Thor. Kristen Connolly (Zoo) is a capable lead and scream queen, but the true star here is Fran Kranz (Dollhouse) who is absolutely hilarious at every moment thanks to spot-on delivery of the best lines of the film.
This movie was also somewhat a breakout performance for its director Drew Goddard (Cloverfield) who also writes the movies with Joss Whedon. Together, the two craft one of the funniest scripts for a movie I've ever heard that keeps a fine balance throughout that is dangerous.
Ultimately, the trick of the film and its best moments come when the story gets down to just Dana and Marty venturing into the depths of the underground base attempting to kill them. When they unleash every monster in the base on the workers, it is a pure haunting gore fest that is remarkably thrilling.
My main gripe with the movie beyond it not quite being scary enough is that its ending is a bit of a blank. While I enjoyed every minute getting there, the nihilistic finish complete with the most deaths in any horror movie ever with the Ancient Ones destroying the entire human race takes away any sense of plot importance.
It is a satirical edge that adds a commentary on how humanity would react to a one vs. all type post-apocalypse, but I always end up feeling less interested in the movie as the credit rolls than I was during the build up to the final moments. Letting all our heroes die as well as all the villains just leaves a sense of emptiness that goes against the rest of the film's vibrant life.
Still, an ending is only one piece of a story, and I enjoy this movie immensely otherwise. It is engaging and hilarious with a host of fascinating characters that never get enough time to all matter yet are each thrown away in manners that are memorable and ridiculous.
Plus this movie randomly has Sigourney Weaver as the final big bad, and you can never go wrong with Sigourney Weaver. Never.
This movie was also somewhat a breakout performance for its director Drew Goddard (Cloverfield) who also writes the movies with Joss Whedon. Together, the two craft one of the funniest scripts for a movie I've ever heard that keeps a fine balance throughout that is dangerous.
Ultimately, the trick of the film and its best moments come when the story gets down to just Dana and Marty venturing into the depths of the underground base attempting to kill them. When they unleash every monster in the base on the workers, it is a pure haunting gore fest that is remarkably thrilling.
My main gripe with the movie beyond it not quite being scary enough is that its ending is a bit of a blank. While I enjoyed every minute getting there, the nihilistic finish complete with the most deaths in any horror movie ever with the Ancient Ones destroying the entire human race takes away any sense of plot importance.
It is a satirical edge that adds a commentary on how humanity would react to a one vs. all type post-apocalypse, but I always end up feeling less interested in the movie as the credit rolls than I was during the build up to the final moments. Letting all our heroes die as well as all the villains just leaves a sense of emptiness that goes against the rest of the film's vibrant life.
Still, an ending is only one piece of a story, and I enjoy this movie immensely otherwise. It is engaging and hilarious with a host of fascinating characters that never get enough time to all matter yet are each thrown away in manners that are memorable and ridiculous.
Plus this movie randomly has Sigourney Weaver as the final big bad, and you can never go wrong with Sigourney Weaver. Never.