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If you’re a fan of horror movies, skip this review and go see the movie. If not, let me sell it to you. The movie is the brainchild of geek god Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard. While Goddard worked with Whedon on the popular TV shows, Buffy and Angel, he also penned nine episodes of LOST. This was his first time in the director’s chair. ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ features some good players with familiar faces. Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Richard Jenkins (Step Brothers), and Bradley Whitford (Billy Madison). Rounding out the heart of the cast are newcomers Kristen Connolly and Fran Kanz. Both deliver perfect performances for their roles. Fans of horror movies will note that nearly all them try to inject some humor. This humor is often crass and ultimately apparent that the writer has no idea what constitutes humor. TCITW has wonderful dialogue that is not seemingly forced. Several visual gags add to the experience and are very well crafted. I don’t want to plant the idea that this film is a laugh riot. I laughed three times and snickered four or five more. It’s a horror film. It’s a horror film that you’ve never seen before, despite what you may think from the trailer. It’s core is cliché. Five college kids take a vacation to a deserted cabin. One couple, one set of kids that eventually hooks up, and the fifth wheel, usually the pot head/ outcast. Yup, it’s there. Overall, the movie takes horror clichés and beats the crap out of them and forces them to do it’s bidding. Things get interesting. The plot unfolds at a very nice pace, not giving too much away. This is a plot I have never seen before and don’t believe it’s been done. I had heard that there was a huge twist ending. I was expecting to be Shyamalaned. I mostly figured it out around the halfway mark. I was still a little surprised. I recommend this movie to anywone who likes movies and wants to see something new, but also something that they are used to. I’ll recommend it to anyone that is open minded. I think that the originality of this movie will be lost on the general public and it will be polarizing to the rest of us. I loved it. Score: 4.5/5
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Apr 17, 2012 21:12
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 18:12 |
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Considering that Whedon's name was attached to this, my expectations were high. Halfway through the movie I was thinking "Will I really want to see this again?" And the answer was NO. I have to agree with redlettermedia that this film seems like a weed-filled concept that they decided to film even after they sobered up. The movie hits all the bases of a standard horror, with an added meta-plot that doesn't make any drat sense when you start to think about things. It's trying to comment on a genre that has moved on from these cliches more than a decade ago. And is there anything more geeky than a film commenting on film? Aren't we being too self-indulgent and self-important here? When you remove all the "They just referenced movie X! Isn't that cool?" you're left with a nihlist journey of jaded drudgery. The "twist" is rather unimaginative, and leaves only a choice between a crappy ending and a crappier ending. There are some cool scenes, and some rather creepy parts, but the I really don't think a concept like this that ISN'T a comedy can really work. At least not when Whedon's writing is in "DollHouse" mode. And I thought Cloverfield sucked massive balls, so maybe it's really Goddad's fault. 2/5
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Apr 28, 2012 03:06
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This movie is one of the funniest horror movies ever made. While being funny isn't exactly what a Horror movie is about, The Cabin in the Woods manages to be clever and innovative enough to succeed. There are people who loved The Cabin, and others that didn't or even hated it. It's very polarizing, as it isn't properly a comedy and it certainly isn't a classical horror movie. Those who expect either will be greatly deluded. Whedon and Goddard completely defy several rules of the Horror genere; the ingredients are there, but the result is quite something you wouldn't expect. The Horror "part" is there, and nicely done. But there's more to it. Highly recommended, 5/5
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Jul 31, 2012 14:37
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Not so much a horror film, as it is a comedy about horror films themselves and, moreover, a film that examines a lifelong viewer's relationship with the genre. Think of it as Joss Whedon's own entry in the dire, interminable "Insert Genre Here" Movie spoof series; except this is that done right by a talented writer/director who actually reveres the subject matter he's roasting. 4/5
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Jul 31, 2012 16:29
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This movie gets a ton of points for originality, good acting (save for the stoner guy who I thought was overdone), and some good scares. However at the end of the day I think it tried to hard and was too meta. At the end of the film I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be affected by the outcome or not, since the movie couldn't decide if it was taking itself seriously or not. It comments on horror cliches by being full to the brim of them and there were so many references it became satirical. Which by itself would have been fine, maybe, but the whole overarching story fails to have any weight by the end because they were too busy giving high fives to other movies. Maybe every horror movie was a scenario in this movie, although that seems a little too self important. I think we're the ending different I would've enjoyed it more. 3/5
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Aug 18, 2012 09:12
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I thought it was a fun ride, the horror was not really scary but I really don't think that was the point of the movie, as other posters have noted this movie is a 'movie about horror movies' but I don't think it mocks the genre at all, if anything it's a tribute to the genre and it cleverly tries explain the various genre tropes and arbitrary conventions. It's also very Whedon-esque in just about every frame, I don't think that's too bad myself but the film has a very geeky vibe and the mythology is very similar to the stuff he came up with in the Buffy-verse. 4/5
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Aug 20, 2012 04:15
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I loved it. If you're going to do big-budget movie in a genre where everything has been done and redone several times over, this is the way to do it. Interesting premise, great execution. The tongue-and-cheek, winking-at-the-audience horror deconstruction genre is nothing new, and some would argue one that has grown a little stale since the first Scream, but Cabin in the Woods ups the ante with a new and interesting approach. Genuinely funny in places, with a liberal sprinkling of amusing horror movie tropes in the background that nerds (like me) will eat up. The actual scenes of the college kids going off to their mysterious Evil Dead cabin in the woods isn't all that interesting - we've seen this a million times before and know what to expect. It's the meta story that I found fascinating and compelling. I could sense the Lovecraftian overtones early on and was instantly hooked. They did the right thing by not focusing too much on the kids in the cabin, and giving more time to the other stuff. The resolution in the end made me very happy. I love bleak endings, even more so in big-budget mass-market movies. Anything that fucks with an audience's perception of how such movies are supposed to end gets my seal of approval. This is the best Cthulhu mythos movie without ever explicitly mentioning it. 5/5
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Sep 4, 2012 19:14
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I really like this film, and now that it is on EPIX I figured I would throw up a review. Like some others, I hated the ending a lot, but the movie is really quite smart when you give it more thought. The old gods represent movie executives and American audiences. They have placed demands on the genre that must be met or else the entire genre just dies (audiences don't watch or the film isn't even made) demands like seeing tits, having lots of blood, poor decisions and one dimensional personalities. At the end of the movie, the old gods don't get their way and destroy everything. The entire movie is a commentary on the state of the horror genre, the film industry and American audiences. 4.5/5
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Mar 9, 2013 02:53
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I really like this movie. Not sure what else to say about it. I had heard it was my jam but I delayed until now to watch it. It really was my jam. I'm not sure what this movie could have done better. I guess the stoner guy could have been toned down a tiny, tiny bit. Truth be told the only reason I don't give a higher score is because I was left wanting to see more. This is the kind of movie where another 30 minutes would maybe have given me that "more". It reminds me of In The Mouth of Madness, but ITMOM has scenes that I would like to cut. This movie however is almost entirely made of scenes that are needed, because the premise is set to fast and it jumps to the meat of it, which I really like. Ultimately I know that less is more, and sometimes not showing more than we need to see (and this movie already shows a lot!) is just better. Still, I was left kinda wanting for more, because I had so much fun with the 90 minutes runtime. I guess this speaks more in favor of the movie than against it. Although there's some heavy Cthulhu Mythos vibes, it reminds me of the SCP foundation as well. 4.5/5. Elentor fucked around with this message at 14:32 on Dec 20, 2019 |
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Dec 11, 2019 00:20
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nice self-deprecating commentary about the genre 4/5
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Dec 15, 2019 18:10
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