“Make sure you see The Cabin in the Woods before it’s spoiled for you,” my friend warned after he saw it in the theater. It was a warning I heeded. I avoided all discussion about the movie from then until now, having just recently seen the movie on DVD. I avoided anything and everything about the movie in fear of accidentally reading one sentence too long and having it spoiled. I didn’t even know Chris Hemsworth was in the cast until he appeared on screen.
To those of you who haven’t seen the movie yet, I would recommend heeding my friend’s advice. A big part of what makes Cabin in the Woods work is the twist behind the movie, so try to have that not ruined for you if you can.
Like Scream, Cabin in the Woods is a good deconstruction of the horror movie genre. And Bradley Whitford is awesome in it, in his snarky Bradley Whitford way.
SPOILER WARNING: I plan on discussing that twist directly after this awesome poster.
Okay, the only people left are those of you who have already seen Cabin the Woods, right? Good.
This movie is a big metaphor about making horror movies, right? We, the audience, are ancient demons they’re trying to appease. I liked that the crew had every type of horror villain available to them in their subterranean holding cells. I also really liked that the projects being done in other counties reflected what horror movies are like there, like the ghost-children in the Japanese project.
I just wished they went further with it. Once Dana and Marty make it to the base, the movie sped along to its finish. I wanted to know more about this place. Yes, too much exposition is bad. But, I think a little more would have served Cabin in the Woods well.
Overall, Cabin in the Woods didn’t live up to the hype for me. I feel like I just lost a little geek cred by saying that. I thought it was good, but not great. It’s definitely entertaining and I would recommend people see it. But don’t go in with your expectations set very, very high.
I’m not sure what else they could have shown about the base — I thought everything was rolled out perfectly, just slowly throughout the movie: who these people are, what they do, why they’re there, the different ways they can influence the sacrifices. By the end, the only things left to show were lal the monsters and the room in the final scene.
(Sorry I hyped it up too much for you. You should have seen it sooner!)
I’m not sure if my only being lukewarm to it came from you hyping it up too much. As a meta message on horror movies, I thought it was really cool. But as an overall movie watching experience, I thought it was good, not great.