Admittedly this movie might be relatively well known compared to what I hope to focus on here but it was only the 66th highest grossing film of the year and it was a horror movie opening in April so it's safe to say some people might have missed it.
Note this review does kind of contain a spoiler but it's one that appears in the trailer and is revealed really early into the movie.
Cabin In The Woods follows five college students as they head up to the eponymous cabin in the woods for a weekend of debauchery. Along for the ride is the jock, the whore (their words, not mine), the scholar, the fool and the virgin. So far so typical and I can feel you rolling your eyes right now. Stop that. The set up? Some shadowy underground organisation is coordinating all of this. Altering the characters personalities and moods with chemicals and keeping them under heavy surveillance. Why? That's the part I'll leave for you to find out yourselves. All we know at the start is that this is all being directed by some group in an attempt to appease some apparently very demanding audience. This is where the voice of co-writer Joss Whedon becomes clearer than ever. A man who makes genre bending original works over and over again despite being ruined by inattentive audiences and overbearing studios who will destroy anything that goes off formula even a little. It's obviously very self-referential to his own experiences. Deviate from what the crowd or studios want/expect/demand and you're out of luck. It's a really interesting case study in making horror films all wrapped up in a horror film.
Cabin is an extremely well crafted movie. The characters all fit nicely into their respective tropes but with enough winking and nodding to not feel bland.Fran Kranz as the fool absolutely steals the show though. The pacing is fantastic, in the first two acts right up there with some of the bests of the genre like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Evil Dead but then turning it right up to 11 for act three. The plot is unique and while it can be a bit heavy handed with the message it's trying to give out it doesn't let that message get in the way of telling a good story. It's not all critique though, the film serves as a love letter to those that went before it. Crammed with enough references and in-jokes for fans of the genre to keep people entertained through multiple viewings as they try to catch something they miss. It also comes with a few genuinely tense moments and some real scares to work on its own. It's just a pity it's point was kind of made for it. Both times I saw this movie in the cinema people stood up and walked out. Like I said, it's the 66th biggest movie of 2012, easy enough to miss so I'd highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.
Note this review does kind of contain a spoiler but it's one that appears in the trailer and is revealed really early into the movie.
Cabin In The Woods follows five college students as they head up to the eponymous cabin in the woods for a weekend of debauchery. Along for the ride is the jock, the whore (their words, not mine), the scholar, the fool and the virgin. So far so typical and I can feel you rolling your eyes right now. Stop that. The set up? Some shadowy underground organisation is coordinating all of this. Altering the characters personalities and moods with chemicals and keeping them under heavy surveillance. Why? That's the part I'll leave for you to find out yourselves. All we know at the start is that this is all being directed by some group in an attempt to appease some apparently very demanding audience. This is where the voice of co-writer Joss Whedon becomes clearer than ever. A man who makes genre bending original works over and over again despite being ruined by inattentive audiences and overbearing studios who will destroy anything that goes off formula even a little. It's obviously very self-referential to his own experiences. Deviate from what the crowd or studios want/expect/demand and you're out of luck. It's a really interesting case study in making horror films all wrapped up in a horror film.
Cabin is an extremely well crafted movie. The characters all fit nicely into their respective tropes but with enough winking and nodding to not feel bland.Fran Kranz as the fool absolutely steals the show though. The pacing is fantastic, in the first two acts right up there with some of the bests of the genre like Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Evil Dead but then turning it right up to 11 for act three. The plot is unique and while it can be a bit heavy handed with the message it's trying to give out it doesn't let that message get in the way of telling a good story. It's not all critique though, the film serves as a love letter to those that went before it. Crammed with enough references and in-jokes for fans of the genre to keep people entertained through multiple viewings as they try to catch something they miss. It also comes with a few genuinely tense moments and some real scares to work on its own. It's just a pity it's point was kind of made for it. Both times I saw this movie in the cinema people stood up and walked out. Like I said, it's the 66th biggest movie of 2012, easy enough to miss so I'd highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.
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