Movie Review: The Cabin in the Woods
Warning: This review does contain spoilers for the movie The Cabin in the Woods. Go and watch it.
“Okay, I’m drawing a line in the fucking sand, here. Do not read the Latin.”
What happens when a typical horror movie set up gets turned on its head? What happens when the unfolding horror is being controlled and manipulated by a team of people in a control room? The Cabin in the Woods is a film with a unique premise that slowly reveals itself across its runtime. But is that unique premise delivered upon? Is it too cute? Is The Cabin in the Woods good?
The answer is sort of. If Scream was winking at the camera then this film is holding up a big sign saying “It’s all a joke”. The movie is split in two. One half is a quite funny and witty comedy with technicians Gary (Richard Jenkins) and Steve (Bradley Whitford) spying on and pulling the strings on the other half of the movie. That other half is a not quite scary enough zombie horror that whilst well done, sort of feels like it’s missing something. That’s the fine line you walk when you make a horror comedy, and this one feels more comedy than horror.
Maybe that’s the problem. If you are looking for a horror movie to keep you on the edge of your seat, this isn’t it. There are a couple of nice jump scares, but it overall lacks tension. That lack of tension is partially because what’s going on in the control room is ultimately more interesting. Which is a shame because the cast assembled here is more than up to the task. They never get to be more than the hollow caricatures that the film is ironically mocking. It never feels as though I’m rooting for characters to get away, I’m more interested in how they’re going to be manipulated next, more interested in what’s really going on.
What’s really going on is an elaborate plot to sacrifice these kids in order to please some evil gods. This plot is designed by the Facility, a large organisation of morally questionable specialists, which is also where we get most of our laughs. It’s the interspersed scenes that we spend here that really make the movie. Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford have amazing chemistry and are given great material to work with. Would the movie work with more of them? Maybe, but sometimes less is more and the balance here feels just right.
In the final act of the film the two survivors, Dana (Kristen Connolly) the almost virgin and Marty (Fran Kranz) the genius stoner (like seriously, this guy figures out what is going on, kills a zombie with a trowel, and has knowledge of elevator electronics, all while stoned) infiltrate the facility that’s been tormenting them. This for me is where the movie loses steam. After the revelation of the monster zoo/prison the movie turns into a gore-fest. We see a bunch of cool monsters kill a bunch of random people, finally see a merman, Sigourney Weaver shows up to give us some unnecessary exposition, there’s some strange message about humanity being beyond saving, and then the world ends. Umm what? The rest of the movie is so clever that the ending leaves a lot to be desired, there’s nothing clever about it.
On the whole this is a very entertaining movie that moves at a good pace. It’s clever, witty and supplies more than a couple of laughs. The only problem is that it’s sorta also meant to be a horror movie, and there aren’t enough laughs for it to really stand alone as a comedy. Yes it’s a satire, but you still need to scare me. That being said, it’s an easy movie to watch and one that nearly anyone can enjoy. This movie isn’t quite an essential watch but it is better than a recommend, so I’ve already had to add a new category.
I rate The Cabin in the Woods as:
A Masterpiece
Essential Viewing
Highly Recommended
Recommended
Meh
Garbage
