Why you should see Cabin in the Woods

Because it’s friikin awesome!

I won’t bore your heads off with the details, but Cabin in the Woods is essentially your prototypical horror movie set in the scary cabin in the remote woods, and boy does it know it. Co-penned by the almost always reliable Joss Whedon, Cabin in the Woods goes for the same meta-humour that Scream used to great effect, but leaves out the indulgent self-reflectionism (hate to say it cuz I love the Scream films and Wes Craven, but it’s true). Instead, the film is a rollercoaster where you can telegraph everything as it is about to happen (I was cueing scares in the cinema) and groan at the typical cardboard cut-out lead characters (virgin, jock, promiscuous, nerd and stoner), but you are meant to know all this, and in fact, it is all integral to the plot. 

Pictured: 95% of all teenage horror films. WITH A TWIST!!!

I was very worried about what this film was going to be with the knowledge that it had sat on the shelf for 2 years, and when I saw the trailer, my fears of a Hatchet level blunder afoot were raised. But no, Cabin in the Woods is witty, fun, engaging, adventurous, ever so slightly thought provoking, and overall, it is a film that can be enjoyed by pretty much everyone. 

Finally, a film that hits that coveted PG13 bestiality market.

People have allegedly been moaning about the obvious choice of ghoul in the film (you’ll understand when you see it), but it always had to be a zombie, and not just a zombie, but the kind of zombie you are so familiar with that you are on first name terms with. The zombie isn’t important, and in the end, neither is who lives or dies. The film is a much larger poke at a genre that always runs the risk of chasing its own tail, and a film like this is needed to say ‘hey, listen, you’ve done this before, and we loved it, but seriously, let’s move on’. Plus the third act is a killer. 

And these guys bring the house down. Oh, spoiler, I guess.

If you haven’t seen Cabin in the Woods, go now! And I recommend it as a date movie, or a group movie, or a movie you can read the subtext of. Essentially, it is a well crafted film that works on so many levels, and audience is any cinema patron who walks in the door looking for a well-rounded film.

I still think the trailer sucked though.