“The cabin in the woods is to the American Gothic what the haunted castle is to the European – the seed from which everything else ultimately grows.” - Bernice M Murphy Dr
An unassuming, dilapidated cabin in an isolated part of a forest is so synonymous with horror it could be considered its own subgenre. The Evil Dead, one of the most famous of the bunch. Friday the 13th, Cabin Fever and The Strangers to name a few of the numerous that came before and inspired the most satirical and arguably outlandish of them all, the appropriately titled, The Cabin in the Woods. A title so generic and on the nose couldn’t possibly deliver with it a good movie right? As we would all come to discover it that subtlety isn’t the goal here and that its acknowledgement of the clichés that often make up movies like these are not only amusing for their repeated overuse but it acts as a brilliant story element that flips the very concept of evil and a cabin in the forest on its modest little subgenre.
After a familiar trailer premiere, knowledge of its many delays and preconceived notions about what the movie would be comprised of, initial reactions weren’t exactly warm and welcoming. By all (limited) perception it appeared to be another forgettable horror cash grab. But after a world premiere at a film festival, word of mouth began to spread. And much to everyone’s surprise, not only were the first reactions out of the festival not bad, they were glowing. Summed up it was being described as a massive surprise and huge subversion of the genre as a whole. But as most of us have long since realized, genuine “early reactions” and paid for feedback can often be indiscernible leaving the only real option remaining and that is to experience the movie yourself.
In April of 2012 it premiered to world wide audiences and as it turns out, those enthusiastic reactions weren’t just Hollywood studio fodder, they were the real deal. The Cabin in the Woods was immediately recognized as a future classic of the genre.
Much like Scream did with slashers, The Cabin in the Woods took tropes and clichés of horror and played them to its advantage utilizing them in unexpected and exciting new ways surprising everyone who thought they knew what they were in for. Its greatest strength is its self-awareness and knowledge of what came before it. It takes everything we know about isolated cabin/cottage horror rules and not only pokes fun at them but proclaims these concepts have an origin you never could have known about before now. And these beginnings, humble as they may be, are anything but docile. They are familiar because, by the rules of this movie, are of ancient descent dating back to a time of monstrous horrors modern society could never understand to be anything but legend or stories simply lost to time.
This is a comedy stuck in a horror movie and the results are absolutely zany and epically unprecedented in the genre. It mocks the clichés while still choosing to focus on and highlight them. It makes you laugh seeing these themes and concepts coming a mile away and when it reaches a point just shy of predictability overload, it rips the rug from under us revealing an entire side of the story we couldn’t even perceive. And from then on it becomes something else entirely and separates itself from the obvious it was seemingly headed for in a deceptively predictable fashion.
The initial story of The Cabin in the Woods is as familiar an idea as peanut butter and jelly on bread. It’s college age friends taking time from school for a little reprieve in a family owned cabin in the woods. In their dated r/v they trek into the rural backwoods for some unsupervised frivolity and if there’s time, some relaxation. It isn’t long, however, into their stay in a rundown cabin that they begin to see things are not as they seem. In true young people and bad decision making fashion, they make all the normal mistakes and misconceptions which lead them down a very unforgiving path to an inescapable outcome. And most sinister of all, these things are consciously being done to them rather than happenstance might suggest. There are more evil things in the forest, naive college students, than are dreamt of in your worst nightmares.
As this movie goes on to establish, the entities, creatures, spirits, monsters and pure evil of man all have an origin. While we as humans have our nightmares, this asks the question of where these nightmares began. Unfortunately for us, they are from a time when nightmares were more than just unfathomable ideas stuck in our psyches. What if our nightmares were real? The Cabin in the Woods, as funny and self-aware as it may be, never holds back in contemplating truly horrific scenarios.
This is one of the best horror comedies of the modern era. It takes everything we know about horror movies and uses that knowledge against us in ways none of us saw coming. If anyone tells you they saw the twists coming, they’re lying. It’s hilarious, ceaselessly brutal, smart and original. It enters such an intimidating premise with absolute confidence knowing full well it’s going into an area of unforeseen madness. It subverts expectations in amazingly fresh ways establishing itself within the horror zeitgeist forever.
Rated R For: strong bloody horror violence and gore, drug use and some sexuality/nudity
Runtime: 95 minutes
After Credits Scene: No
Genre: Horror, Comedy, Thriller
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Kristen Connolly, Fran Kranz, Richard Jenkins
Directed By: Drew Goddard
Out of 10
Story: 9/ Acting: 9/ Directing: 10/ Visuals: 9
OVERALL: 9.5/10
Buy to Own: Yes
Check out the trailer below:
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