The Cabin In The Woods (DVD Screening)

(Spoilers)

The Cabin In The Woods is a DVD that I got hold of at Halloween last year with the intention of watching it then, however it wasn’t until last night that I got seeing it! I had heard much chat about it being the best horror film in a long time and that it flipped the genre on its end etc, so I did have expectations for something slightly different.  The Cabin In The Woods is certainly not the standard teen slasher film that it presents itself to be in the trailers.

From fairly near the beginning the viewer is able to realise that there is something much larger going on than just the lives of the five teens who find themselves in this cabin.  The other scenes presented allow for the viewer to constantly try to figure out what is going on and it is well crafted in a way that the viewer can slowly piece together what really is going on. The revelation that some type of organisation is dictating what happens in the cabin brings a whole new dimension to the film and makes it so much more interesting, one of my favourite scenes was watching the staff bet on which ‘creature’ would attack the group.  I thought the choice of zombies was a bit poor as something more interesting that hasn’t been overdone could have been used instead, although it did set the film up well in terms of its twists.

Once the zombies attack the teens drop like flies and it is apparent that some greater scenes are to follow, most of the deaths were predictable, mostly that of Chris Hemsworths character!  This could have been made so much more effective if they hadn’t revealed the force-field surrounding the area at the start of the film as his death would have come at such a greater shock however it was still something out of the ordinary which was good.  To be honest I loved the whole idea of there being the possibility of every creature under the sun as the potential attackers and it was really cool to see these when the remaining teens venture down to the base. This was good however as much as I liked it if you thought about it too much it really was quite silly.  The inclusion of such creatures as mermen and unicorns did nothing to help this, I just had many questions about the whole set up so I would recommend not to over-think it when all the creatures appear on screen.  Some pretty cool scenes follow though and it just descends into carnage, which is a lot of fun to watch unfold.

My biggest problem with The Cabin in the Woods was its confused tone, well it confused me anyway.  At times it seemed like serious horror film and then quickly after it had elements of comedy to ridiculous levels, this can be done effectively however I find it hard to find films that do it well.  On paper The Cabin in the Woods was a fantastic idea and the twists and workings of the script were really cool however as it has been brought to screen some of that intelligence has been lost I felt.

BIGGEST FLAW – Confused tone

BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT – Successfully adding another dimension to the standard slasher movie

Ultimately The Cabin in the Woods is a very enjoyable watch, and most horror fans should find some aspects of it engaging.  However once you begin to think about it too much that is where the problem lies, also at times too much is revealed too soon. Saying that, give it a watch and you will have fun! It is something different and for that it should be praised.  Also Sigourney Weaver makes an appearance, so it is worth it just for that!

Rating – 7/10