Monday, December 3, 2012

The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

With geek god Joss Whedon (creator of TV's Buffy and Firefly among other fan favorites) on board, it's fair to say that the expectations for "The Cabin in the Woods" were quite high for enthusiasts of the horror genre. Here he shares a writing credit with the film's director Drew Goddard and the result is one of the year's more entertaining experiments. I truly think that this is a film that will suffer due to those that are willing to discuss too many of the plot points in advance, so I'll be brief in my actual descriptions. I will say this, though, the less you know about the movie--the more fun you can have. In my opinion, even the advertising campaign and trailers hint at too much. You know from the start that this isn't your typical fright fest. Instead, what is served plays up and skewers every horror movie cliche imaginable. It is both hip and witty, as well as smarter than it has any right to be. It twists movie conventions around in clever new ways and makes something that seems remarkably fresh and different. And if you're a fan of horror movies, this is simply fun, fun, fun. Of course, we all know the genre of movies that involve a cabin in the woods (or other appropriately desolate place). Let's get a car full of kids, strand them, and then start picking them off in increasingly creative ways. At the start, that's exactly the scenario that "The Cabin in the Woods" sets up. We meet five standard character archetypes for these type of films: the jock (Chris Hemsworth), the stoner (Fran Kranz), the good girl (Kristen Connolly), the vixen (Anna Hutchison) , and the scholar (Jesse Williams). After a brief bit of character introduction, we're off to the woods. As they settle in, each rises to their individual stereotype. First there's drunken revelry, then there's the discovery of a very spooky basement, and then mayhem ensues. What's going on and can anyone survive? If you've seen the trailers, however, (and if not, this is also included as the first scenes in the movie) you know that there is something more complex at work behind the scenes. But that's all you get from me. Let's just say that the film turns into a post-modern game as much as a traditional horror endeavor.

No comments:

Post a Comment