THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

Photos courtesy of Lionsgate Films

                             

A group of college students discover their getaway weekend isn’t what its cracked up to be in THE CABIN IN THE WOODS.  

Dana, Curt, Jules, Marty and Holden are burnt out on class work, and plan on blowing off some steam at Curt’s cousin’s cabin out in the woods.  After discovering some interesting aspects to the cabin, and their surroundings, the five settle in for a classic game of “Truth and Dare”.  The game leads to an interesting discovery in the cabin’s cellar, and propels some strange and horrific occurrences.  

As Marty soon discovers, these events are not coincidental, but intentional.

Things aren’t exactly as they appear in THE CABIN IN THE WOODS, and that’s a good thing, especially for a genre that typical feels restricted in terms of creativity.  

Writer-director Drew Goddard and writer Joss Whedon weren’t given the memo on these constraints and have crafted a wild, uneven, but ultimately thrilling ride through a horror film that works more as a suspenseful mystery.  Intrigue and anticipation replace fear and terror as the main ingredients in this oddly satirical, yet respectful nod to the standard horror picture.  

The characters fit the standard clichés, with a horny couple, Curt as the jock and Jules his promiscuous gal, an honorable couple, the thoughtful Holden and well meaning Dana, and the fifth wheel along for comic relief, this time as the pot-smoking, Shaggy-like Marty.  Although each fits the bill, often times their actions and reactions stem from their forced environment and events that lie outside of their control.  

At times the group works together for a common cause, but something greater, from the outside, is pulling them apart, controlling their destiny.  By opening up the genre to outside forces at work, Goddard and Whedon allow the same results to occur, watching the kids get picked off one-by-one, but what drives THE CABIN IN THE WOODS, isn’t the characters' outcomes, but rather what is leading to their outcomes and why.  

The talented screenwriting duo doesn’t hold back, in terms of scope or carnage, and the film’s conclusion somehow manages to be horrific and humorous.

Grade: B