A Rundown of the 13 (plus) Best Horror Movies I've Seen in the Past Year
[12 of 13]

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.)

¡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.)

THOUGHTS: On Superheroes

It’s curious that news of the gear shifting on both The Flash and Wonder Woman film projects came nearly simultaneously.
The writer/directors who had been steering both projects are now off them (David Goyer and Joss Whedon, respectively), and for pretty much the same reasons, director and studio did not see eye-to-eye on the treatment and approach to the character in question.
Whedon: “We just saw different movies, and at the price range this kind of movie hangs in, that's never gonna work.”
Goyer: “The God's honest truth is that WB and myself simply couldn't agree on what would make for a cool Flash film.”

You gotta wonder, when a studio shoots down projects from established names like Goyer (who wrote the screenplays for Dark City, Batman Begins, and the Blade films) and Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly), just what exactly is the studio’s vision of the character? How different can it be from that of people who are clearly entrenched in genre material? It isn’t like these are rank neophytes, after all.
On the one hand, I can appreciate the caution Warner Brothers and DC are taking with their properties (better taking their time to get it right, rather than Marvel’s trigger-happy film-everything-we-can-now attitude, which has given rise to fiascos like Elektra and Daredevil and Fantastic Four).

Sometimes though, you wonder at a studio’s “vision.” I mean, Batman Forever was bad enough, but whoever greenlit Batman and Robin should be shot.
And this isn’t even about a disgruntled fan: I never got into Buffy or any of Whedon’s other shows, and Goyer is a hit-and-miss affair for me (I love his scripts for Dark City, Batman Begins, and Blade II, but Blade and Blade: Trinity—which he also directed—blew, big time).

This is about getting it right, about being faithful to the source material and treating the character (and by extension, the character’s creators) with respect.
You have to ask yourself, is the studio really concerned with getting it right, or with coming up with a movie that’s designed and calculated to make money?
The thing is, they need to take chances too, and not just stick to what’s been tried and tested and been done to death.

Studios also need to keep the fans in mind, the section of the audience that tends to come back to a film again and again, if it’s done right. (And there’s a lot of revenue that’s made up of repeat viewings.) Which is not to say they should slavishly stick to the source material either, but rather, make a proper translation of said material onto film, retaining and tweaking whatever elements of the character’s mythos works best on the big screen.

In the end though, the proof’s in the proverbial pudding. There is no colour by numbers approach to film adaptations of comic book material (and there shouldn’t be). There is, however, instinct, creativity, and a genuine love and passion for the genre.
So let’s all hope Warner Brothers knows what it’s doing…

(Originally posted 020807)