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The Cabin In The Woods Review

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS POSTERDirector: Drew Goddard

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Kristen Connolly, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz

Running Time: 95 minutes

Certificate: 15

Synopsis: A quintet of walking stereotypes head to the woods for a nice, relaxing vacation. They have a very fun time and all live happily ever after. If only. This is a horror film, so no, that doesn’t actually happen. Instead, the group find more than they anticipated out in the woods, as things take a turn for the crazy…

From the moment I left my comfy Soho Hotel cinema seat, having just taken in THE CABIN IN THE WOODS’ full 95 minute runtime, there was one thought that stuck with me: how the bloody hell am I going to review this one?

Not that THE CABIN IN THE WOODS is necessarily a particularly complicated film to review; nor is it one that left me with feelings of apathy or indifference. No, the effect was quite the opposite – it’s a polarising film, but chances are you’ll love this rather than hate it. What really makes this film difficult to review is doing it without any spoilers.

For Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s horror comedy is full of surprises. Starting out as just-another-horror-film, with five teens or young adults journeying to, yes, a cabin in the middle of some trees, things soon take a turn for the unexpected. I don’t want to say much more than that plot-wise, for fear of ruining one of the greatest stories in modern film, but suffice to say things go from bad-to-apocalyptically-worse for our quintet of travellers.

Goddard plays on the horror clichés in copious amounts – this is a very self-aware script, if indirectly – though the backdrop for such tropes (which, no, I’m not telling you) is both smart and humourous. I must stress that this film definitely isn’t a spoof – it’s far cleverer than that. Our main cast, which includes a pre-Marvel Chris Hemsworth – THE CABIN IN THE WOODS was filmed three years ago, but studio distribution and finance problems have delayed its release immensely – includes all the classic stereotypes: the Jock (Hemsworth), the Bimbo (Anna Hutchison), the Stoner (Fran Kranz), the Innocent One (Kristen Connolly) and the Smart Polite One (Jesse Williams).

What’s pleasing here is that because the film is trying to emphasise the ridiculousness of these stereotypes, not one of the characters particularly grates. We’re in on the joke, and in many ways so are they (though of course, they never show it – it’s not that kind of self-aware). Hemsworth in particular shows just why he was later chosen for the Norse God Avenger that is Thor. The star of the show is Connolly, and she’s at least a smart cookie.

We know how horror films play out (and so does Goddard). We don’t want to spend an hour and a half screaming at the characters to ‘not go through that door’ or ‘turn back now’. We want them to be sensible enough to make the clever decisions, but to still fulfil their typical horror role to, well, be horribly mangled by some zombies. And somehow, Goddard and co. have indeed managed to nail this seemingly diametrically opposed and impossible desire. It’s a testament not only to the writing talents of Goddard and Whedon but the entire cast and crew. I can’t emphasise enough just how clever (and cleverly surprising) THE CABIN IN THE WOODS is.

Watch out for a line towards the end, just as things are about to turn epic – well, just watch out for every line. I’ve racked my brains trying to think of something bad to say about this film, but all its flaws were handled in some manner or other before I even had chance to notice them, be it from a witty, self-referential line from one of the characters or another genius plot twist (of which there are MANY). Oh, and there are a couple of cameos, one of which is hilariously identical to a certain Simon Pegg film that was actually made after THE CABIN IN THE WOODS.

This is a film that will keep you guessing until its very last frame, with plenty of laughs, scares and ‘seriously, what the hell?’ moments along the way. If only THE DEVIL INSIDE was done in this manner. Maybe then it wouldn’t have been the year’s worst horror. Instead, it could have sat proudly next to THE CABIN IN THE WOODS, which, funnily enough, is possibly the year’s best horror (or horror comedy, if you will). And yes, I know it’s only April.

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS is released in UK cinemas on 13th April 2012.

Chris started life by almost drowning in a lake, which pretty much sums up how things have gone so far. He recently graduated in Journalism from City University and is actually a journalist and everything now (currently working as Sports Editor at The News Hub). You can find him on Twitter under the ingenious moniker of @chriswharfe.

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  1. Pingback: 2012 Review Round-Up: Part 2 « Cryteria

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