I remember it well: My parents were out of town for their anniversary and my one brother was at college. Whenever I was home alone with my brothers, we entered a weird realm of sibling bonding. I was also on a binge of eldritch horror and was running out of options. Luckily, the brother I was with is a movie buff and had a whole list of movies he wanted to watch. That night, we chose “The Cabin in the Woods” together.”
It seemed like a basic horror movie format at first. A group of college student friends goes on an innocent vacation, and things go horribly wrong. This definitely describes the movie, but it is much more than that. Everything going on isn’t just ghosts or monsters or natural happenstances. It is all part of a bigger situation run by humans.
One of my favorite parts of the movie is the creatures. I am a big fan of monster-based horror and cryptozoology (the study of legendary creatures), so this movie was perfect for me. There is a huge bunker-type storage unit filled with an unthinkable number of monsters. This ranges from the cliche and basic, like zombies or werewolves, all the way to the strange and creative, like the “Dismemberment Goblins.” I especially like the references to cultural creatures and monsters from other horror movies. There are some creatures from various indigenous myths as well as references to Hellraiser, The Shining, The Evil Dead, and more.
“The Cabin in the Woods” is also hilarious. The banter from the people running the whole situation had me laughing the entire movie. The individual characters in the group of friends were also funny, especially Fran Kranz and Chris Hemsworth’s characters. Though I do have a soft spot for the archetypes they fill. The characters all definitely fit strict archetypes, but that kind of goes with the plot. It seems like more of a tease at the archetypes than the lack of creativity.
Honestly, my favorite part is impossible to talk about without spoiling it. Let me just say it was interesting and definitely unique. It was sort of terrifying, but more in the “do we really know what our reality is” way rather than the “AHHH!” way.
I think the entire movie was good quality. The set design and design of the creatures was nice. There were a lot of good actors that fit their roles well. My only problem with the movie is that there isn’t a sequel.
This was soooo relatable. I smiled when you said “entered the weird realm of sibling bonding” because my younger brother and I literally did the same thing, but our thing was, like, Scooby Doo or some Disney Channel movie. Also, I wish I could watch horror, but both me and my brother can’t do it. We got scared when we watched the “Camp Scare” Scooby Doo movie. It was honestly embarrassing.
You mentioned Scooby-Doo and it got my attention. “Camp Scare” is one of the greatest movies of all time, and I stand by that. My brother and I do the same thing with Scooby-Doo movies, and my younger brother could not sleep after watching “Legend of the Vampire” so you’re not alone.
I. Love. This. Movie.
Cabin In The Woods is one of those great films that knows how to poke fun at stereotypical tropes, creating a “self aware” horror film. I also have a favorite scene in the film and I think we might be on the same wavelength about which one it is (without spoiling it of course). Definitely a good plot twist I did not expect and such a stellar cast! If you’re into the “self aware” comedy/horror genre and haven’t seen SCREAM I would definitely recommend that too.
I’ll admit, I’m too much of a scaredy-cat to watch horror films. But I do like some-self awareness! Though I wonder if Self-awareness has become tired and cliche in horror like it has elsewhere, like in games.
I am not a horror movie person, but this definitely seems like a movie I might enjoy. I don’t that freaked out at horror movies, so they do not give me any real adrenaline rush (you do not want to know how long it took me to spell that correctly) which is the basis of enjoyment for the horror genre. However, horror movies with humor is a whole different story, because horror/comedy is like a comedy movie to me, where a regular horror is just boring. This is why the Scream series is one of my all time favourites, so I will definitely have to check this one out.
Yeah this is a good movie if you don’t like traditional horror. It isn’t just funny, but there is like… a puzzle aspect to it. Like you are trying to figure out what is happening.