Home Reviews We review The Cabin in the Woods – The smartest, funniest horror film you’ll see

We review The Cabin in the Woods – The smartest, funniest horror film you’ll see

3 min read
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It’s something of a challenge to talk about horror comedy The Cabin in the Woods because to get maximum enjoyment out of it, you should really be clueless when entering the cinema, and just go along on its wild, witty ride. It helps too if you’re a long-time fan of horror movies, because a good chunk of the fun while watching comes from playing “Spot the influence.” The Evil Dead. Hellraiser. It. The Ring. The Howling. Resident Evil. The Strangers. Hell, even the Cthulhu mythos pops up for some screen time…

Distinctly postmodern and self-referential in nature, The Cabin in the Woods is stuffed with nods to its influential genre predecessors. At the same time, co-writers Joss Whedon (who produces the film) and Drew “Cloverfield, Lost” Goddard (who directs it) have been clever enough to realise that identifying influences alone does not an entertaining movie make. From their dozens, if not hundreds of sources, these geek gods have crafted a horror film that – just like its protagonist band of college students in a camper van – heads off the beaten track to a destination unlike any you’ve ever visited before.

After the opening credits, and bewildering first scene in an industrial complex that seems out of place in something called The Cabin in the Woods, the film embraces expectation… at least for a bit. So we meet Dana (Kristen Connolly), the good girl heroine still hung up on her professor ex; Dana’s freshly blonde roommate, the fun-loving Jules (Anna Hutchison); Jules’s towering jock boyfriend, Curt (Chris Hemsworth); Curt’s nice guy friend Holden (Jesse Williams) and perpetually stoned Marty (Fran Kranz). Together these kids head off to a remote lakeside cabin, only to find themselves manipulated into deadly scenarios by sinister “puppeteers”.

Tonally, The Cabin in the Woods is closer to Whedon and Goddard’s Buffy (an R-rated version at least), or Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead and Drag Me to Hell (without the madcap cartoonishness). The film is very different to the Saw series, House of Wax and all those other torture porn efforts where you’re expected to revel in the cruelty and depravity onscreen. Although the callousness of the “puppeteer” technicians (played by scene-stealing Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford) is clearly designed to mirror that of today’s horror movie audiences, it’s difficult to get a cheap thrill from character suffering here, given that they’re all a likeable bunch straining against imposed cliché.

The Cabin in the Woods is at its most conventional – and least interesting – when our heroes have to contend with a family of sadistic, and unstoppable, zombie rednecks. After some hack-and-slash thinning of the cast though, the survivors make a shocking discovery… and what follows is a bloody, over-the-top blast as all hell breaks loose. Approaching the climax, the horror movie clichés come on thick and fast; as do the Whedon cameos – culminating in one glorious surprise. There may be a few dips in audience engagement along the way but The Cabin in the Woods is one of those rare movies that actually improves as it progresses.

This said, I don’t know if the casual moviegoer will get as much pleasure from the film as horror aficionados. In fact, I suspect the former might find it all a little too unusual and alienating for their tastes. This is a pity because The Cabin in the Woods is head and shoulders above most contemporary horror flicks, in smarts if not special effects quality. Either way, one thing’s for sure: The Cabin in the Woods is destined for cult status, forever altering the way you look at horror movies.

Last Updated: August 8, 2012

12 Comments

  1. Rincethis

    August 8, 2012 at 09:51

    This movie was awesome! Loved the ending 🙂

    Reply

  2. Christo Kruger

    August 8, 2012 at 10:06

    Totally agree. Brilliant movie, exceptional writing. 

    Reply

  3. Lourens Corleone

    August 8, 2012 at 10:08

    The moment I saw Amy Acker on screen I knew this was classic Mutant Enemy.

    Reply

  4. Kervyn Cloete

    August 8, 2012 at 11:08

    Thanks to Bayside Ster Kinekor mysteriously only screening this for a single week before pulling it, I am only going to see this on Sunday. 

    Reply

  5. Lourens Corleone

    August 8, 2012 at 12:32

    Watched it at Ster Kinekor Tygervalley, and it was REALLY, REALLY dark. In some scenes I couldn’t see a thing.

    Damn Tygervalley.

    Reply

    • x dvd

      August 9, 2012 at 01:52

      Awesome movie and I agree with casual movie watchers not liking it ( my wife being one of them)

      Reply

  6. Kervyn Cloete

    August 20, 2012 at 08:37

    I finally got around to watching this on the weekend and absolutely loved it. This has just leapfrogged it’s way to the top of my Best of 2012 (So Far) list.

    Reply

  7. James Francis

    August 20, 2012 at 11:40

    Only thing – it’s not really a horror. It’s a parody. If this is horror, then so was Scary Movie or Shawn Of The Dead.

    Reply

    • Kervyn Cloete

      August 20, 2012 at 13:28

      While I agree it’s more “horror” than horror, I wouldn’t call it a parody. It’s more satirical to me.

      Reply

      • James Francis

        August 20, 2012 at 15:32

        Satire would be more apt, yes. It makes lots of inside jokes and I found that people who are not familiar with the staples of the ‘cabin’ sub-genre didn’t get many of the finer jokes. I’ll rewatch it to make sure, but I didn’t see anything that could be construed as a tip of the hat to Evil Dead. IMO Shawn Of The Dead did a much better job bringing across the nuances of the genre it satired.

        Also, paint me very surprised to see that this was not directed by Whedon – he only co-produced and co-wrote it. Given how much his fans hyped it, I could have sworn he did everything, even wrote the theme tune…

        Reply

  8. Nathan Horne

    August 21, 2012 at 08:55

    Wow, I managed to see this last night. All the horror movie references are awesome. I’ll have to re-watch to catch every thing (I’m sure you’ll pick up stuff every time you re-watch it) – but it is a must see for any horror movie fan.

    My girlfriend fell asleep : )

    Reply

  9. Adrian Meredith

    August 29, 2012 at 10:16

    This was just as epic as Evil Dead 21

    Reply

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