Don’t let the pedestrian title spook you: The Cabin in the Woods takes one of Hollywood’s most mundane setups and turns it into a smart sendup of horror movies and mythology.
Not that there aren’t bare breasts, cheap thrills and a blood-orgy of gore — what else do you expect when you send a bunch of college kids into the sticks for a little countrified fun? Cabin in the Woods chews on this moldy cinematic trope that’s fueled movies for decades, from Deliverance to Don’t Go in the Woods to The Blair Witch Project, then regurgitates it all with a peculiar relish that testifies to the moviemakers’ love of genre film.
You already know the story, or at least part of it. Five archetypical students — the jock, the scholar, the virgin, the whore and the fool — pile into an RV for a weekend of fun. They head for a cousin’s cabin, which is conveniently located off the grid. Along the way they stop at a decrepit filling station operated by a creepy weirdo, and that’s just the beginning.
There’s the dark cabin, the almost-definitely-doomed blonde, the creaky stairs leading to a dank cellar that could double as the devil’s antique shop — even the inevitable sexy-weird game of truth or dare. But all these standard-issue horror motifs get slyly turned on their horned little heads as Cabin spins up into something bigger, and far better, than a lowest-common-denominator slasher flick.
It’s nerve-wracking at times, but in terms of tone, it’s far more Evil Dead than Saw. And that’s a good thing.
(Spoiler alert: Plot points follow.)
Cabin in the Woods isn't all about a cabin in the woods. Except that it is.
There’s been a lot of talk about not spoiling Cabin in the Woods’ big surprises, but if you’ve seen the trailer, you know this isn’t just a “send the kids to their bloody doom in the woods” flick.
This goes far beyond a twist ending. In the trailer — and, indeed from the very beginning of the R-rated film, which opens Friday — we see that somebody is behind the scenes, pushing the buttons, monitoring and manipulating the nightmare unfolding for the group of friends. Aside from effectively moving Cabin into the rich realm of meta-horror, the plot provides plenty of opportunities for dark humor. Even the gas station’s tobacco-chewing hillbilly harbinger of doom, who prattles on about appeasing the “ancient ones,” gets pranked.
That black take on the movie’s bleak events makes Cabin in the Woods bubble with energy. For that you can thank co-writers Joss Whedon (The Avengers) and Drew Goddard, who douse the film with witty banter, creative twists and (eventually) boatloads of blood. Cabin should thrill Whedon fans, who’ll thrive on the clippy, quippy dialog that lifted Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer to cult status. (Whedon and longtime co-conspirator Goddard, who makes his directing debut with the film, wrote the script in three frenzied days, cramming their horror film with self-aware humor.)
The actors bringing all that witty banter to life do a fine job, with Chris Hemsworth doling out the kind of meathead charm he brought to Thor and the fetching Anna Hutchison milking her turn as the requisite “horror-movie whore.” Dollhouse’ s Fran Kranz plays the fool — a stoner with the world’s coolest stealth bong — and his dope-smoking philosopher is more cerebral than Spicoli (and not as eternally funny and memorable, although his more subtle approach serves the story better than a broader caricature would have).
Veteran actors Richard Jenkins (The Visitor, Six Feet Under) and Bradley Whitford (The West Wing) nail the bureaucratic malaise of seen-it-all drones pulling strings behind the scenes, and a surprise cameo toward the end should put a smile on the face of any genre fans who haven’t had it spoiled for them by witless movie critics.
Ultimately, Cabin in the Woods is not really about the acting. It’s about horror movies, what they can be and, to some extent, what they’ve become in an era of endless sequels and cloned concepts. (Whedon called the film a “very loving hate letter” to the genre in an interview with Total Film.)
At the risk of over-hyping the film, here’s what Cabin in the Woods is not. It’s not predictable. It’s not stupid. And it’s not a dreary exercise in torture porn.
Instead, it is a smart, sarcastic and deliriously fun journey into the belly of the horror beast — and probably the only movie you’ll ever wish could be delivered in a “choose your own adventure” style on Blu-ray.
In other words, it’s the Joss Whedon horror movie you always wanted.
WIRED Speakerphone prank; electrified fourth wall; elevator from hell; crafty Japanese schoolgirls; best office pool ever.
TIRED Stoner guy’s pseudo-philosophical rambling.
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