Review: The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

[Mark R. Leeper]

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)

CAPSULE: Drew Goddard directs a film he wrote with
Joss Whedon and takes the viewer over a lot of very
strange territory even for horror films. While the
film is funny and frequently at the same time scary,
it also looks at what makes horror films work before
it dumps the viewer on the doorstep to one of the
great master horror writers (who shall remain
nameless). The American horror film has been
impoverished for ideas for decades now, but this is
a fabulously creative horror film which takes a lot
of pieces that should not fit together and forces
them into a whole with a high energy plot that binds
them together. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10

Spoiler warning: I do not think I gave away anything that should
bother a viewer, but this is a film that it is best to see knowing
as little as possible of what is to come.

Hiding behind a lackluster title, THE CABIN IN THE WOODS is an
audacious, intelligent, and gutsy horror film. It raises a whole
lot of questions. If it is a standard teen horror film of five
college students facing angry spirits in the woods, why are there
technicians secretly tracking the proceedings? Are the returning
dead of the forest real or man-made or both? Who is pulling the
strings for all that is happening?

I like the kind of mystery that does not ask a question like "Who
is the murderer?" but instead asks, "What the heck is going on
here?" Rarely does a film that asks that question provide such a
fantastic answer. We are given two plot lines that seem to have
absolutely nothing to do with each other. In one plot, five
college students are going for a weekend in a mysterious cabin out
in the woods. They want and expect to do some serious partying.
But there are strange things happening in the house. This sounds a
whole lot like THE EVIL DEAD. But we keep cutting away to some
sort of technical control facility that could be launching a
missile, except for the fact that they seem to be looking at
television displays of what is happening at the kids' party in the
cabin. The cabin visit seems to be secretly controlled by a
clandestine high-tech project. And that is not all. Another team
in Japan seems to be following and controlling a scene that looks
like it was borrowed from THE RING. Why? What are the
experimenters looking for? What the heck is going on here? Why
would someone want to use high-tech to put people through
situations from horror films?

In the early parts of the film THE CABIN IN THE WOODS seems like a
cross between THE EVIL DEAD and THE TRUMAN SHOW. When people start
getting killed and the technicians at Mission Control seem to be
cheering it as some sort of success, the mystery only deepens.
Most of what I tell you here might be the conclusion of some horror
film. That would be strange enough. In this film you know all this
from the very start. The real question is what is the connection.

This is co-writer and director Drew Goddard's first attempt to
direct, but he has written and was a major creative force for
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Angel", "Alias", CLOVERFIELD, and
"Lost". Co-writer and producer (and second unit director) Joss
Whedon is one of the most creative talents in film and television
these days. This may be the most creative American horror film in
decades. While telling its own horror and science fiction story,
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS also looks at what makes a horror film tick
and perhaps some of the mythic similarities and the basis of what
scare us. It can function perfectly well at one level while
examining itself and other horror stories from another level. Not
just a surprise package, it is a package full of surprises. I rate
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10

Film Credits: <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1259521/>

What others are saying:
<http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_cabin_in_the_woods/>


Mark R. Leeper
mle...@optonline.net
Copyright 2012 Mark R. Leeper
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)

CAPSULE: Drew Goddard directs a film he wrote with
Joss Whedon and takes the viewer over a lot of very
strange territory even for horror films. While the
film is funny and frequently at the same time scary,
it also looks at what makes horror films work before
it dumps the viewer on the doorstep to one of the
great master horror writers (who shall remain
nameless). The American horror film has been
impoverished for ideas for decades now, but this is
a fabulously creative horror film which takes a lot
of pieces that should not fit together and forces
them into a whole with a high energy plot that binds
them together. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10

Spoiler warning: I do not think I gave away anything that should
bother a viewer, but this is a film that it is best to see knowing
as little as possible of what is to come.

Hiding behind a lackluster title, THE CABIN IN THE WOODS is an
audacious, intelligent, and gutsy horror film. It raises a whole
lot of questions. If it is a standard teen horror film of five
college students facing angry spirits in the woods, why are there
technicians secretly tracking the proceedings? Are the returning
dead of the forest real or man-made or both? Who is pulling the
strings for all that is happening?

I like the kind of mystery that does not ask a question like "Who
is the murderer?" but instead asks, "What the heck is going on
here?" Rarely does a film that asks that question provide such a
fantastic answer. We are given two plot lines that seem to have
absolutely nothing to do with each other. In one plot, five
college students are going for a weekend in a mysterious cabin out
in the woods. They want and expect to do some serious partying.
But there are strange things happening in the house. This sounds a
whole lot like THE EVIL DEAD. But we keep cutting away to some
sort of technical control facility that could be launching a
missile, except for the fact that they seem to be looking at
television displays of what is happening at the kids' party in the
cabin. The cabin visit seems to be secretly controlled by a
clandestine high-tech project. And that is not all. Another team
in Japan seems to be following and controlling a scene that looks
like it was borrowed from THE RING. Why? What are the
experimenters looking for? What the heck is going on here? Why
would someone want to use high-tech to put people through
situations from horror films?

In the early parts of the film THE CABIN IN THE WOODS seems like a
cross between THE EVIL DEAD and THE TRUMAN SHOW. When people start
getting killed and the technicians at Mission Control seem to be
cheering it as some sort of success, the mystery only deepens.
Most of what I tell you here might be the conclusion of some horror
film. That would be strange enough. In this film you know all this
from the very start. The real question is what is the connection.

This is co-writer and director Drew Goddard's first attempt to
direct, but he has written and was a major creative force for
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Angel", "Alias", CLOVERFIELD, and
"Lost". Co-writer and producer (and second unit director) Joss
Whedon is one of the most creative talents in film and television
these days. This may be the most creative American horror film in
decades. While telling its own horror and science fiction story,
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS also looks at what makes a horror film tick
and perhaps some of the mythic similarities and the basis of what
scare us. It can function perfectly well at one level while
examining itself and other horror stories from another level. Not
just a surprise package, it is a package full of surprises. I rate
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10

Film Credits: <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1259521/>

What others are saying:
<http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_cabin_in_the_woods/>


Mark R. Leeper
mle...@optonline.net
Copyright 2012 Mark R. Leeper