Cast: Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Chris Hemsworth
Director: Drew Goddard
Country: USA
Genre: Horror | Thriller
Official Trailer: Here
Editor’s Note: The Cabin In The Woods opens wide April 13th.
Everyone huddles into the crowded theatre where we wait shoulder to shoulder for the screen to ignite with a new horror film from the creators of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Anticipation and expectation build upon each other creating a frenzied vortex of vicious impatience like a bunch of children waiting to take a skeptical first bite of their birthday cake. Will the film satisfy? Will it respect or look down upon the films from which it spawned? Is this just going to be another slap in the face of horror? With these worries in mind, the opening credits begin and don’t fret, this story has a happy ending.
This isn’t a slasher film about slasher films like Scream; Cabin is a horror film about watching horror films, which is understandably a delicate distinction, but an important one.
With a title like Cabin In the Woods, one expects a certain level of self-awareness, but that seems like an understatement for this film. This isn’t a slasher film about slasher films like Scream; Cabin is a horror film about watching horror films, which is understandably a delicate distinction, but an important one.
As the audience of a horror film, you partake in certain secret pleasures that more often than not remain unspoken. It’s fun to be scared and in order to be scared you have to see or experience some kind of horrible threat. Therefore, it’s fun to be threatened, at least in the safe environment of the cinema. It’s not enjoyable to simply see someone running through the woods, struggling for their life, but it is enjoyable to be frightened for them. It’s a slightly sadomasochistic admittance, and a key component in understanding the psychology involved in a functioning horror film.
Cabin is concerned with the act of watching horror and why we love to do it. It’s not trying to make fun of its audience or make clowns of the iconic characters like Pinhead or Jason. It loves horror. A common misconception is that films like Cabin and Scream, which analyze the genres in which they’re working, are parodying the films they’re referencing. This couldn’t be further from the truth. These genre hybrids stand as triumphant testaments to the films of the past and are usually made by students of classic horror filmmaking. If you want films that don’t pay respect to the golden age of horror, take a look at the endless lineup of Hollywood horror remakes that bastardize the original material into mainstream digestible music videos populated by poster people and colour by number scares. Cabin offers something more.
This film celebrates horror, but unlike Scream, doesn’t have anything horrific to say. It’s kind of like a love letter to hate mail, which is good every once in a while, but if you’re looking for a brutal horror film to communicate some kind of angst, this is doubtful to satisfy.
The film is full of fun characters, unique story reveals, funny gags and gore. It’s a horror museum funhouse, like stepping into the chocolate factory if Willy Wonka was a scary hardcore horror fanatic. There are amusing nods to countless numbers of great 70s and 80s horror sure to amuse any fan of the genre.
But it’s not all smiles and roses. As a horror film, Cabin is missing perhaps the most important ingredient; it’s not angry. Horror works best when it’s coming from a place of turmoil, expressing some kind of dissatisfaction or worry about the world. This film celebrates horror, but unlike Scream, doesn’t have anything horrific to say. It’s kind of like a love letter to hate mail, which is good every once in a while, but if you’re looking for a brutal horror film to communicate some kind of angst, this is doubtful to satisfy.
One thing is certain, whether the creators meant it or not, this marks the end of the horror film where self-awareness is the main focus. Films about teenagers stuck in the woods will continue, but the bar has certainly been raised.
[notification type=”star”]73/100 ~ GOOD. This film is full of fun characters, unique story reveals, funny gags and gore. It’s a horror museum funhouse, like stepping into the chocolate factory if Willy Wonka was a scary hardcore horror fanatic.[/notification]
