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Basebf555 posted:I remember some years ago there was a new poster who came into the thread and basically introduced themselves by saying that Cabin in the Woods was their favorite horror movie of all time. oh man i remember that hahah baptism by fire in the horror thread
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Dec 30, 2020 17:17
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I loved Cabin in the Woods but I also haven’t rewatched it since I stopped liking Whedon and I can’t imagine I’d enjoy it as much nowadays. Same reason I haven’t seen Dogma since I was a teenager
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Dec 30, 2020 18:26
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I also liked Cabin in the Woods when it came out, but I was woefully uninformed about all the good horror movies that came out in the preceding years which rendered its central argument irrelevant
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Dec 30, 2020 18:33
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Retro Futurist posted:I loved Cabin in the Woods but I also haven’t rewatched it since I stopped liking Whedon and I can’t imagine I’d enjoy it as much nowadays. Same reason I haven’t seen Dogma since I was a teenager Goddard tempered Whedons worst poo poo, thankfully.
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Dec 30, 2020 18:37
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Cabin in the Woods is still a fun dumb time despite its fanbase and its creator.
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Dec 30, 2020 18:39
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Cabin in the Woods is enjoyable once, and maybe twice just to try to catch all the poo poo flying around at the end. I don't begrudge anyone who likes it, but at the time it was being celebrated as something that it definitely wasn't.
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Dec 30, 2020 18:40
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Criticising the point of Cabin in the Woods by bringing up a handful of decent horrors which
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Dec 30, 2020 18:41
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I only saw Cabin in the Woods once, while I remember enjoying it, I also never felt the need to rewatch it.
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Dec 30, 2020 18:41
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Cabin in the Woods was also on the shelf for several years before release. What it was saying was more apt when it was made than when it came out.
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Dec 30, 2020 18:43
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that ending is also extra hilarious and prescient considering the weird loving self serving fandom jerk off that is going on in every large franchise property and horror isnt excluded in that. just a weird, "ok-ish' movie that sometimes punches above its weight class.
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Dec 30, 2020 18:48
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BisonDollah posted:Criticising the point of Cabin in the Woods by bringing up a handful of decent horrors which Cabin in the Woods was released in 2012, so by then the low point of the 2000s was past. Regardless of what the big studios were doing, the fact is that the genre saw an influx of new talent and fresh ideas around 2010ish and the decade that followed was much more indicative of that than any point Cabin in the Woods was trying to make.
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Dec 30, 2020 18:49
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Basebf555 posted:Cabin in the Woods was released in 2012, so by then the low point of the 2000s was past. Regardless of what the big studios were doing, the fact is that the genre saw an influx of new talent and fresh ideas around 2010ish and the decade that followed was much more indicative of that than any point Cabin in the Woods was trying to make. Cabin in the Woods was in the can for several years before the studio released it.
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Dec 30, 2020 18:51
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Vince MechMahon posted:Cabin in the Woods was in the can for several years before the studio released it. Yea, definitely that was a mistake. Like I said though, I enjoyed Cabin in the Woods. It was a good time, and nothing more(which is fine!).
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Dec 30, 2020 18:52
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I think a better criticism of CitW is that, despite attempting to be a satire on horror, it's neither scary nor particularly funny except for maybe a couple jokes. If it was billing itself as a straight horror or straight comedy it would be universally panned as a failure, it really only skates by on a couple memorable scenes and the vaguest notion that it's making a statement of some kind.
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Dec 30, 2020 18:58
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dorium posted:that ending is also extra hilarious and prescient considering the weird loving self serving fandom jerk off that is going on in every large franchise property and horror isnt excluded in that. It's obvious how disingenuous it was because just look at what Whedon went on to do afterwards. A real crusader in the fight against formulaic poo poo.
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Dec 30, 2020 18:58
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Basebf555 posted:Cabin in the Woods was released in 2012, so by then the low point of the 2000s was past. Regardless of what the big studios were doing, the fact is that the genre saw an influx of new talent and fresh ideas around 2010ish and the decade that followed was much more indicative of that than any point Cabin in the Woods was trying to make. This, plus the fact movies are always late to the party. Vince MechMahon posted:Cabin in the Woods was also on the shelf for several years before release. What it was saying was more apt when it was made than when it came out. Also you're acting like CITW's was a smug, minimising exercise to dismiss horror where I see it as the opposite. A kind of love letter pointing out the bad but also remembering all the fun, crazy poo poo.
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Dec 30, 2020 18:59
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Its not a specific year to me. Its that Cabin in the Woods feels like a send up of the idea of horror rather than the state of horror. Its like writing a "the black guy always dies first" or "the woman who always falls down" or "they always hide in the basement" joke. They're lame observations that have been made a million times and already mocked better. Its the stuff you can pick up from watching The Family Guy or something. There's some fun and imaginative stuff in there, especially if you like Whedon. And Whedon does at least understand horror can be fun. I just don't think its good enough or has enough real familiarity or love for horror to really elevate the material and be worth the amount its been talked about.
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Dec 30, 2020 19:03
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STAC Goat posted:Its not a specific year to me. Its that Cabin in the Woods feels like a send up of the idea of horror rather than the state of horror. Its like writing a "the black guy always dies first" or "the woman who always falls down" or "they always hide in the basement" joke. They're lame observations that have been made a million times and already mocked better. Its the stuff you can pick up from watching The Family Guy or something. Not that I disagree with you points but I also think the movie is making a clear comment about the state of horror at the time. You've got all of these wacky and interesting monsters being kept down there in the facility, but the American ritual always succeeds because we always use the same go-to monsters that are simple, predictable, and effective. Of course, we the audience are given a lot of the blame(remember that it's the college kids in the cabin that actually choose their own monster from the various items in the basement) too because we're the ones who continue to pay money to see the same thing over and over again.
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Dec 30, 2020 19:11
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King of Bleh posted:I think a better criticism of CitW is that, despite attempting to be a satire on horror, it's neither scary nor particularly funny except for maybe a couple jokes. If it was billing itself as a straight horror or straight comedy it would be universally panned as a failure, it really only skates by on a couple memorable scenes and the vaguest notion that it's making a statement of some kind. Cabin in the Woods has roughly the same problem as Scott Pilgrim or the Louis C.K. apology tour: it's performing the superficial motions of self-critique on behalf of someone who hasn't actually learned anything and doesn't intend to change the most telling thing about it is that the ending is portrayed as the end of the world, and the ambivalence of the young protagonists is equally easy to read as, like, juvenile nihilism as the dawn of a new era. the movie's more about generational struggle than it is about horror as a genre despite everything, and it's pretending it's not on the side of the people going "kids these days" -- but fails to be convincing on that point
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Dec 30, 2020 19:11
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Basebf555 posted:Not that I disagree with you points but I also think the movie is making a clear comment about the state of horror at the time. You've got all of these wacky and interesting monsters being kept down there in the facility, but the American ritual always succeeds because we always use the same go-to monsters that are simple, predictable, and effective. Yeah, but as you've said I don't think that was an especially cognizant point at the time. Its a broadly true statement. To some extent it will always be true that horror like most communities/institutions cling to nostalgia and familiarity and reliability. But there's nothing truly insightful about that. Its not "a huge flip on horror" or "Never allow any other horror movie to look at itself in the same way ever again". Its just kind of the same basic criticism with a kind funny and creative idea. I think I used this phrasing once before but it felt like a horror parody formed less from watching horror movies so much as from what Whedon absorbed about horror through the 80s and 90s. I think that worked well enough when he was parodying horror in the 90s but eventually anyone who doesn't keep up on a field ends up feeling dated and behind the times.
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Dec 30, 2020 19:21
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The premise is lame office worker bets in a horror trope competition based around human sacrifice to ancient gods, the lame observations are kinda the point. Number crunchers and data analysts are working to succeed alongside/in spite of markets elsewhere doing the same thing, the reason they are doing this is forgotten. Unconnected and disinterested in their work - all the workers know is the perpetual letting of blood has to be committed in order to satiate the higher ups who demand it - everyone is so bored by the violence and the factory setting of ritual that the system is on the precipice of failure. Something something movie studio system something something capitalism. Horror Thread: Betting in a Horror Trope Competition Based Around Human Sacrifice to Ancient Gods Is, To Me, A Lame Observation
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Dec 30, 2020 19:22
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I still like Cabin in the Woods, Jenkins and Whitford are great horror villains
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Dec 30, 2020 19:24
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Anyway we should've just been like "Cabin in the Woods is pretty fun, but I've got some EVEN BETTER recommendations for you" but instead we probably launched into this whole discussion we're having now and the new poster was like 
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Dec 30, 2020 19:26
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Basebf555 posted:Anyway we should've just been like "Cabin in the Woods is pretty fun, but I've got some EVEN BETTER recommendations for you" but instead we probably launched into this whole discussion we're having now and the new poster was like This is reminding me that I need to rewatch Tucker and Dale Vs Evil.
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Dec 30, 2020 19:31
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Basebf555 posted:Anyway we should've just been like "Cabin in the Woods is pretty fun, but I've got some EVEN BETTER recommendations for you" but instead we probably launched into this whole discussion we're having now and the new poster was like This is true and fair. And for more recommendations of off beat horrors and observations from experts like Basebf555 check out the Spook-A-Doodle Bracketology II Tournament & Movie Club kicking off our second season January 1st!
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Dec 30, 2020 19:47
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Lumbermouth posted:This is reminding me that I need to rewatch Tucker and Dale Vs Evil. gently caress yea you should. great flick.
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Dec 30, 2020 19:48
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I’m going to watch that new alien medical examiner show solely because Alan Tudyk is the lead. He’s one of those dudes who makes things better solely through his presence.
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Dec 30, 2020 19:53
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Lumbermouth posted:I’m going to watch that new alien medical examiner show solely because Alan Tudyk is the lead. He’s one of those dudes who makes things better solely through his presence. It was filmed like 20 mins away from where I live so I'm going to check it out or the novelty if nothing else
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Dec 30, 2020 19:54
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Like all good horror comedies, you can tell that Tucker and Dale was made by people who actually like the teens run afoul of hillbillies set of horror movies.
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Dec 30, 2020 19:55
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Retro Futurist posted:It was filmed like 20 mins away from where I live so I'm going to check it out or the novelty if nothing else The tv show Ed was filmed in one of my favorite bars and my local bowling alley and much of the show in my little town and I still haven't bothered to check it out.
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Dec 30, 2020 19:56
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I always felt like CitW was very clearly more about the studios than about the genre. They don't understand horror audiences at all but have stumbled on something that kind of works so they cling to it as long as it keeps kind of working, etc. etc.
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Dec 30, 2020 20:33
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Irony.or.Death posted:I always felt like CitW was very clearly more about the studios than about the genre. They don't understand horror audiences at all but have stumbled on something that kind of works so they cling to it as long as it keeps kind of working, etc. etc. I think I agree with you. I remember watching it and something just felt off about it, like it was too polished or something. At the time I just chalked it up to having a friend who was a big Whedon fangirl really talk it up to me before I got around to watching it.
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Dec 30, 2020 20:39
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Irony.or.Death posted:I always felt like CitW was very clearly more about the studios than about the genre. They don't understand horror audiences at all but have stumbled on something that kind of works so they cling to it as long as it keeps kind of working, etc. etc. The J-horror bit definitely works with this reading
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Dec 30, 2020 20:40
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Basebf555 posted:Not that I disagree with you points but I also think the movie is making a clear comment about the state of horror at the time. You've got all of these wacky and interesting monsters being kept down there in the facility, but the American ritual always succeeds because we always use the same go-to monsters that are simple, predictable, and effective. See, the ultimate problem of the film is that it’s pretentious. Everything points to some sort of ‘deep’ allegorical meaning, but no-one can discern what that actually is. In this case, the imagery of a variety of monsters kept in cages is interpreted as representing how studios are afraid to innovate; they’re keeping all the best ideas under lock and key! But then, what are some concrete examples of these great unsold ideas? Well, here’s Pinhead from the 2011 film Hellraiser: Revelations. Next to him, there’s the fuckin’ MegaPython from the 2011 film Mega Python vs. Gatoroid. One of the genuinely unused ideas is “ironic horror movie where teens are killed by a pretty unicorn”. You know the actual hidden meaning of CITW? It’s a beat-for beat ripoff of Dean Koontz’ Phantoms.
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Dec 30, 2020 21:11
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SuperMechagodzilla posted:You know the actual hidden meaning of CITW? It’s a beat-for beat ripoff of Dean Koontz’ Phantoms. Hey, if you're gonna steal, steal from the best
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Dec 30, 2020 21:12
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I am cursed, every time I try and watch Posessor something happens and I get pulled away from it, I’ve tried it 3 times now and I’ve been interrupted every time, I’m gonna give it a few days then I’m putting myself on lockdown for 2 hours so I can enjoy it.
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Dec 30, 2020 21:56
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I am cursed, every time I try and watch Posessor something happens and I get pulled away from it, I’ve tried it 3 times now and I’ve been interrupted every time, I’m gonna give it a few days then I’m putting myself on lockdown for 2 hours so I can enjoy it.
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Dec 30, 2020 21:56
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You're not cursed, you're just stuck in a time loop.
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Dec 30, 2020 22:39
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Origami Dali posted:You're not cursed, you're just stuck in a time loop.
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Dec 30, 2020 23:42
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SuperMechagodzilla posted:See, the ultimate problem of the film is that it’s pretentious. Everything points to some sort of ‘deep’ allegorical meaning, but no-one can discern what that actually is. I mean Marx's theory of alienation (workers from the product of their labour) as it applies to the horror genre is a pretty sweet allegory for a popcorn horror. "Deep" is probably a bit too loaded of a term although it is interesting; at least, it is to me. Also bargain basement horror tropes might not be the great unsold ideas you are positing it as here, might it just be more examples of the kind of copycat horror this film is exploring? Sniping the horror basement is kind of strange because CITW had a fun, unique premise which used these guys to make a point about lack of creativity and also to have fun, be entertaining. These were some of the best scenes but I really don't think the no-Pinhead guy was presented in any way other than as an example of something we've all seen before and I'm confused as to why you'd say these guys are concrete examples of unsold ideas. Also CITW premise certainly doesn't contradict or age badly when you look at the horror genre defining movies of the 2010's with the A24 lot and Get Out being the big films that permeated culture in new and interesting ways. Hatchet sure wouldn't have broken through although horror audiences have the biggest hardons for looking back and celebrating that poo poo. Conservatism had gripped the genre and you still get horror "fans" who would rather see a shoddy homage to the best eras in the genre than something engaging and modern (this may be a silly example but I just mentioned how sad it was horror fans didn't celebrate Black Christmas 2019 more, it's movies like that which will hit with society and bring more ideas, interest and money to filmmakers in the genre... I dunno, I am rambling a bit I wish I could be clearer but here we are).
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Dec 31, 2020 00:09
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