Skip to main content

Cabin in the Woods (2012) - Drew Goddard


The teen horror movie aesthetic is fully explained in this satire of all horror films. Boasting some huge names that actually pull their weight makes for a really great watch and fun horror movie to delight just about anyone. The film started with a 30 million dollar budget and had Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard attached. Both are hugely talented. Whedon comes off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Goddard comes off of Lost and Cloverfield. Not exactly lightweights. 

The film takes slasher horror in a whole new direction. While it adds a surprising and very pleasing dark humor aspect to the movie, it doesn't skimp on the things that matter. The movie still elicits a fear. It has grizzly imagery and puts characters that you can relate with in a frightening situation. It's bloody and gory. It has action and a slight sense of adventure. Cabin in the Woods is one of the rare horror movies that utilize the full spectrum of theater and delivers well. 

In the usual fare, a group of young adult/late-teen's are spending the weekend at a Cabin in the Woods. This isn't just a normal run-of-the-mill type Cabin either. Other than being infested with creepies and crawlies. Murderers and psychotic slashers. This cabin hides a secret. A secret that might change the way things work in horror movies forever! 

It behooves me not to divulge anything about this movie to those that hasn't seen it yet. Just know that if you love horror movies and you are a fan of the macabre. Then this movie is going to be right up your alley. It delves deep into this style of horror film and explains all that it can. Check it out and you will not be sad. 


Director: Drew Goddard
Country: USA
Did ya know: The movie's opening was a deliberate attempt by filmmakers Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon to confuse the audience and make them think they walked in to see the wrong movie. During the lake scene, the only student not to jump into the lake is Marty, who remains fully clothed on the dock. This was partially due to Fran Kranz noticeably being in as good if not better shape than the other male students. In the commentary for the film, the writers joke that he was "ripped like muscular Jesus" and assert that if Marty were shown being that fit it would ruin the character. This is partly also why Marty wears baggier clothes than the other students. The thermal coffee mug/bong was a fully functional mug and bong as portrayed in the film, the prototype of which cost $5000 to make.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Human Monster (1939) - Walter Summers

Bela Lugosi turns in a fantastic performance. It is right on par with the exact same films that had made him famous like Dracula . My personal favorite being The Black Cat . Like the latter, this film suffered from poor circulation and lack of advertisement. Either that or the public wasn't interested in seeing Lugosi in anything else other than his famous bloodsucker. This film has a broad and well acted plot that was rich with detail.  Lugosi has two sides in this picture. His well loved and compassionate side. The other is a strict, brutal lone shark that acts as a sinister villain to blind and handicapped people. He really brutalizes his victims. It's a macabre message to pay your bills.  The film is slow moving and plagued by the usual setbacks from its time. Most of the nation wasn't really that concerned with horror at the time. But studios knew that they would always have an audience. This film is a prime example of that. It's sad because it's 

Ju-On (2000) - Takashi Shimizu

Watching Japanese horror is similar to watching British comedy. If you enjoy dry whit then you probably enjoy the boys of Monty Python in drag. That's the joke, they're dressed like women. Get it? Well, that's British humor. But if you're like most Americans you probably prefer Adam Sandler farting his way across a football field and hooking up with chicks that are way out of his league. Americans usually prefer this more in your face, crass brand of humor. My point is funny in England is different from funny in the US. The same goes for J-Horror. What the Japanese consider scary is very different from what Americans consider scary and it shows in this horror film. Japanese horror is generally slow (a little too slow sometimes), suspenseful and creepy. Ju-On is a creepy effing film. The movie has almost no soundtrack. It is incredibly suspenseful and the pay-offs are pretty awesome, but I think that it was done better in the American version (cultural t

Inseminoid (1981) - Norman J. Warren

What can be said for mindless schlock pictures like this one. They were pumped out in droves during the eighties. Inseminoid !? give me a break! It sounds like some pre-pubescent teenage boys came up with the title. On the plus side the movie isn't horrible to look at and it has a decent amount of gore. If you can separate yourself from the political incorrectness, then you might have a perfectly decent Sci-Fi Monster Feature.  A research team exploring caves on Jupiter accidentally awakens an ancient alien that rapes and impregnates one of the team members. She suffers from terrible shock and trauma, leading to a complete mental breakdown as her pregnancy accelerates faster and faster. Feeling threatened she decides to kill anyone she deems a threat. Can the rest of the research team survive or will they all become victims of INSEMINOID! Apparently this movie had a million dollar budget. That's really shocking considering the outcome of the picture. The acting