The Cabin in the Woods

“When people stop being polite and start getting real……dead!” “ The Real World Cabin in the Woods”

That is sort of what I felt like when we decided to see Cabin in the Woods Sunday. The previews make it look like a reality show meets a science experiment and a teen sex romp within a horror movie. That is only a minor part of the film. There is actually something else going on and it makes it sooooo much better than what the previews show.

This is the most fun I have had at a movie in a few years. I think Doomsday was the last movie we saw that was just full super fun to watch. We laughed through Doomsday and we did the same with Cabin in the Woods. It is a fun film. The gore is descent, the humor is dark and the story is just enough over the top to make it fun.

The basic plot is a group of horror movie (clichéd) college students: jock, slut, brain, stoner, and goody-goody. They are off for a weekend at a relative’s newly bought cabin in the middle of nowhere. At the same time a second story is running concurrently and it involves some crazy science think tank and what appears to be an experiment with the same college students and said cabin.

"The Jock", "The Brain", "The Slut", "The Stoner",  and "The Goody-Goody"

Once the cabin is reached, after a run in with the typical creep-o old man who has a gas station, it becomes typical horror movie before the blood and guts. There is the exploration, drinking, truth or dare, couples being couples and the text book creepy discovery. Once that occurs then the movie falls into what you would expect. However, there is a bit more to it. The science guys seem to be running the show. The events at the cabin are part of a sequence of events that must occur. Why? Well that would ruin the movie now wouldn’t it? I’ll just say it is part of a larger plot, which turns this from a run of the mill horror movie into something so much better!

What makes this movie so fun then? Well the clichés are great. There is the great rousing hero speech, the sexy romp in the forest (that is always safe), the “We’ll make it no matter what!” moment , and the diabolical behind the scenes stuff, the old man with his cryptic warnings, the big bad/bads and a few more which I'll not spoil. 

Then there is the story. It was  written by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard.  You have the one guy was responsible for Buffy, Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse (which kind of blew). Then there is Drew who wrote for Buffy, Angel, Alias, Lost and Cloverfield (which kind of blew). These two guys have done a ton of T.V. that I loved. They didn’t miss the mark here either.

Third is the blood. When the killing kicks in it is fantastic! It starts slow and quietly with the gore, but eventually it reaches a fantastic crescendo! 

Fourth is the cast and it is pretty descent for a horror movie.There are the relative nobodies and then there is the current Thor, Dr. Richard Dobeck (Stepbrothers), Eric Gordon (Billy Madison) and Winifred “Fred” Burkle (Angel) and a personal favorite Andrew Wells (Buffy and a favorite character) in a great cameo role. It is a great character cast, which is what Joss Whedon seems to do well. Every character in the film is pretty likable, the science crew especially!

The second best part of the film....these guys!

The fact it was rated R was a bonus. It is too common for, most movies to get the PG-13 rating. You know for the increased box office. Thankfully, this did not happen, since it would have diluted all the fun from this film! It is really tough, well actually impossible, to get a good hack n' slash with a PG-13.

There is also some great humor in this film. Sure the plot isn’t really funny, but it is. The science gang has some of the best comedic moments in the film. Hell, I was actually more interested in what they were doing than the band of students and their weekend party in the cabin. The humor is dark and will probably be missed or thought unfunny by many, which is a shame. I mean one should never laugh at death or the events leading up to it.

Last is the end. It was the ending I was really really hoping for! That was awesome. I was thinking cop-out ending was where it was going. Instead it went exactly where I wanted it to go. Some people are screaming “twist” ending, but it really isn’t. If you know the stuff these two guys have written you can guess how they should end it. Thankfully they did not disappoint there. Even when the end credits began to roll we were treated to Last by Nine Inch Nails, one of my favorite songs by them, and entirely fitting for the events that had just concluded in the film.

Will this movie appeal to horror fans? Hell yeah! That is probably all that are going to see it. Will it appeal to the normals out there? Probably not. That is the problem, it is horror.That is hard to make people want to see. Well unless you call it suspense then it makes it non-horror horror. However, unless it gets some good word of mouth it will be passed over. If you are a fan of the genre, you have probably already seen this movie. If you like Joss Whedon T.V. check it out, you'll probably dig it. If you are a normie, well give it a shot when it hits video. Wait what is a normie doing on this site anyway?