The Cabin in the Woods

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Kristen Connolly, Anna Hutchinson, Fran Franz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Sigourney Weaver
Directed by: Drew Goddard
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
2012

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Five friends visit a cabin deep in the woods for a weekend of relaxation and fun. They soon find themselves caught up in something beyond their imagination.

Review:

Tim: I loved watching The Cabin in the Woods. Writer-Director Drew Goddard and writer Joss Whedon have created a brilliant, funny, original horror movie that completely flips the conventions of the genre on its head. This movie breathes new life into the horror genre, much the way Scream did back in the mid 1990s. This is one of the craziest, most ambitious horror movies I've ever seen. It proves that great horror movies are still out there.

I love that Whedon and Goddard give us so many elements that have become horror movie cliches, and use those tired aspects to create something new. We have five friends staying in the cabin- the jock, the virgin, the athlete, the druggie, and the promiscuous girl. While these old conventions are used, they are simply a way to make fun of those cliches. For example, the "jock" is also a sociology major, and is quite intelligent. The athlete is actually a kind person with morals. The characters are terrific because on the surface, they are what we've seen dozens of times before, and yet, they are all unique and more well-rounded than 95% of the horror movies out there. That makes us care about these characters. The writing is just terrific. I was surprised at how much I laughed in this film. There's just hilarious moments- when Chris Hemsworth confronts his girlfriend on where she got textbooks, for example. However, most of the jokes come from slight twists on those old horror movie cliches. The writers clearly understand the horror genre, and prove continuously throughout the script that they are far more intelligent than most horror writers. You watch a movie like this, and you realize how lazy many of them are.

The cast is good, although it did feel like they had a few too many forgettable actors in the cast. I really liked Chris Hemsworth and Jesse Williams in the film. They are the two most recognizable members of the main cast. Kristen Connolly was fine, but I don't remember much about her performance- she did veyr little to wow me. Anna Hutchinson was the same way- I know she was in it, but very little about her actual performance stuck with me. Fran Kranz was better- he makes the druggie character his own, and gives him far more intelligence than we're used to. I also loved the use of Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford in this film- their scenes together were among the best of the whole movie.

Now, it's hard for me to talk about the story because I don't want to spoil it. I'll just say that this is a movie that sets up as expected, only to completely pull the rug out from under the audience. I was totally not prepared for the direction this movie would eventually take. While it hinted at and suggested there was something deeper going on, the eventual realization of what this movie is about completely blew me away. It's one of the most ambitious horror movie ideas I've ever heard. It was so brilliant and so interesting, and it's surprising that no one has ever tried something like this before. Without really saying it, this movie ties together virtually all the horror movies out there. It unites the horror cliches in a brilliant almost meta type plot. I loved the creativity and the originality required to pull this off. It was stunningly ambitious.

It's funny that many people who saw this film in theaters didn't like it. That does not surprise me- if you go into this expecting the typical slasher flick, you'll be sorely disappointed. This movie makes fun of those films while doing it better than the vast majority of them. This horror film actually requires intelligence and some thinking to make it through it. For me, I loved that change up, and this is easily one of the best horror movies of the last decade.

While unconventional and challenging, The Cabin in the Woods is a truly great movie. I love the unique, original ideas here, and the execution was quite good as well (the special effects were surprisingly good). This is a horror movie that stands apart from the rest of the genre, and I loved that. I highly, highly recommend this movie.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Scream, Red Dawn, The Avengers