MOVIE REVIEW: THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

ON VIDEO

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS



Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard team up for this bloody horror satire that offers an inventive twist on the familiar stranded-in-the-woods sub-genre. ~ Rovi

Director: Drew Goddard

Cast: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Richard Jenkins

Release Date: Apr 13, 2012

Rated R for strong bloody horror violence and gore, language, drug use and some
sexuality/nudity

Runtime: 1 hr. 45 min.

Genres: Horror, Suspense/Thriller

Runtime: 1 hr. 31 min.

Genres: Comedy

Review:

Cabin in the Woods is a Meta film on steroids. The characters as written are archetypes and played as such just like the usual tropes of any generic horror film. Joss Whedon’s film is full of clever twist and nods throughout even though it thinks it’s a lot cleverer than it actually is. As a film, it’s a mash up of the underrated sci-fi horror film Cube and Wes Craven’s A New Nightmare. It’s an interesting and fun little ride that takes itself less and less seriously as the film moves on. Director Drew Goddard gets what Whedon is going for and they both hit the marks they are looking for. Someone looking for a scary movie though won’t find it here, outside of a few jump scares, it’s never really unsettling. More than anything it’s a love letter to movie fans and horror fans in particular. In the process Whedon turns the mirror back on us as viewers of the horror genre, poking plenty of fun at it to, but pointing out all the tropes we’ve become so accustomed to over the years. It all works fairly well even if it’s not perfect or totally original.

B-