Friday, August 17, 2012


¡Qué horror! 2012
Candidate # 30

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
(December 2011)


Though I was never particularly a Joss Whedon fan*, when news of The Cabin in the Woods first broke, I was hopeful because of Drew Goddard’s presence on the title.
And when the casting news began to trickle in (Richard Jenkins! Bradley Whitford!), my curiosity only intensified.
But, like the Red Dawn remake (incidentally enough, also starring a pre-Thor Chris Hemsworth), an already-completed Cabin got stuck in the morass of the whole MGM bankruptcy thing, which also delayed the production of The Hobbit and the latest James Bond installment.**
A couple of years passed, until Lionsgate came to the eventual rescue, and Cabin finally got released, and, I must say, it’s been well worth the wait.


Honestly, I would have loved to have gone into Cabin completely cold, and I would have, if not for that damned trailer.
Still, Goddard and Whedon have more up their collective sleeve, even if you’ve had the misfortune of seeing that damned trailer.


Whether or not you’ve seen that damned trailer though, any self-respecting horror head will know this cabin, will know the conventions and the tropes that accompany that blasted, isolated cabin in the middle of those godforsaken woods, but Goddard and Whedon take that familiar scenario and those familiar characters that populate it, and have a grand old time with them, and with the film’s audience.
There’s quite a lot going on in The Cabin in the Woods, and all concerned manage to deliver a crackingly entertaining horror film for those who love their horror substantial enough to bite into, with pulpy and juicy bits fit for dissection, and subsequent reflective chewing and rumination.


Plus, there are some priceless cinematic moments, like Jenkins shouting, “F*ck you!” six times in quick succession, and Whitford exclaiming, “Aw, come on!” and a whole bunch of nods (and faces) that should be nostalgically (and, in some cases, oddly) familiar to all you horror heads out there.


Like the tagline on the Lionsgate one sheet goes, “You think you know the story…”
Come on in, this Cabin’s waiting for you…

* I guess the closest I came to being a fan before this, was Dollhouse, which was a very good and intriguing show, although I did have some issues with it… (For the record, I've yet to see The Avengers.)

** You’ll note the original trio of one sheets (which I still love), sporting the United Artists and MGM logos on the bottom corners.

(The Cabin in the Woods OS’ courtesy of aintitcool.com, twitchfilm.com, & impawards.com.)

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