The Cabin in the Woods (2012) Review

CLAYTON'S CREEPY CINEMA!

WEEK 5: REMAKES AND REHASHES

The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Happy Halloween! We’ve made it through October, so to finish off this year’s Clayton’s Creepy Cinema, I’ve decided to review a very recent horror film, which is less a remake or rehash and more a feature length homage to the horror genre. A classic scary premise on the outside (reminiscent of Evil Dead or Cabin Fever) with a mysterious, ingenious concept on the inside, The Cabin in the Woods is one of the best horror films of the decade.

The plot starts out simple, but right away, it’s clear there’s something we’re not being told. A group of teens go out to a cabin in the woods for a fun weekend—a concept we’ve seen many times before. There’s the stoner, the athlete, the whore, the sort-of-virgin, and the smart guy. As they start to notice something sinister going on at the cabin, meanwhile, below ground in a hidden facility, workers are observing the teens from dozens of hidden cameras, monitoring them, and orchestrating an intricate horror scenario for them to fall into. Soon, the teens are under attack by zombies, but it’s not that simple. As they quickly find out, there’s more at stake than just this staged horror scenario, and an ominous secret is revealed, which could result in the death of more than just the ill-fated teens.

The Cabin in the Woods is a smart, hilarious, and scary movie. Though more funny than scary, it still has several genuinely terrifying moments throughout. The film is well shot and looks great, especially considering it is director and co-writer Drew Goddard’s directorial debut. The screenplay was co-written by Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and it’s evident. The film has a great sense of humour, and nearly every horror cliché gets addressed. The characters are all likeable, and when they get killed off, it actually feels significant. At first the simple zombie subplot seems dull, but as the film progresses, it swerves into completely different territory and does so effortlessly. Even though I really liked this movie, I did have some small problems with it. I can’t discuss the ending without giving away massive spoilers, but I will say that when the big picture came into focus and it was revealed what was really going on, I was a little disappointed. There was also a particular cameo I was not fond of, but I will say, the final twenty minutes of this movie are phenomenal and guaranteed to make horror fans laugh and gasp and yell at the screen in the best way possible.

The Cabin in the Woods is a fun and surprising horror flick. There’s a lot of material packed into the hour

and a half run time, which makes it constantly entertaining and very re-watchable. It is a little depressing that the movie is really good only because it’s satirizing horror, and not because it’s a completely original, pure horror film, but with the genre in such a sad state these days, at least there can still exist an intelligent and truly good horror film.

To those of you who kept up with all my reviews over the past month, thank you for the support, and thanks to everyone for reading! Have a fun and safe Hallows Eve, see you next year for more...

Clayton’s Creepy Cinema!