The Cabin in the Woods

11/6/2012

Hilarious and frightened: shaken, not stirred. Great movie, one of the best in this "genre" for quite a while.

8/11/2013

Finally got around to The Cabin in the Woods. 8/10, great fun. A Joss Whedon-(co)written (also co-written and directed by Drew Goddard, who wrote Cloverfield) take on an old horror staple in which 5 stereotypical teenagers (an academic, a jock, a stoner, a slut and a "nice" girl) venture out into the woods for a dirty weekend. It's no spoiler to say that these unfortunate young naïfs appear to have been cherry-picked and are being heavily monitored all the way into the woods by some very (very) high-tech manner of... what? Government agency? It's with these fellows that we visit first, before we ever meet our protagonists; two middle-aged, white collar I.T. types, a little brow-beaten by what appears to be a fairly monotonous job (although it really ****ing isn't) but full of typical offic

2/27/2018

This is another one of those movies where I cannot understand why so many people give it so high scores. Sure it’s not a really bad movie but, personally, I found it only moderately good. I’m not sure whether the movie was intended to be scary or funny or both. It wasn’t very funny though and only moderately scary. It has been presented as a not-your-usual-teenage-slasher-horror movie. Well, it sure has an interesting twist but…it is still a teenage slasher horror movie. The twist could really have lifted the movie but unfortunately this good idea is pretty much wasted in a poor implementation. Instead of holding on to the surprise it’s spoiled right away with that eagle flying in to the force field (since when did we learn to build force fields by the way?). Another thing that really dr

5/19/2020

**The following is a long-form review that I originally wrote in 2012.** Jesus Christ. What just happened to my brain? I was worried that _Cabin in the Woods_ was gonna be a letdown, ‘cause I had built it up so much in my head, and it seemed such a ridiculous concept that it would have been nearly impossible to pull off flawlessly. And maybe it won’t go to join the ranks of my favourite films in existence, but it was… So. Fucking. Good. Drew Goddard (who wrote _Cloverfield_) is no stranger to working with Joss Whedon (_Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Avengers_) and my God do they ever make a team. Joss Whedon is my unopposed all-time favourite person involved in the film industry in any way, shape, or form. Which is quite the claim, given my interests. He’s had a couple of fuck ups,

8/23/2026

*The Cabin in the Woods* (2012) attempts to deconstruct traditional slasher tropes, but stripped of any real suspense or dread, it ends up feeling largely hollow. The underground facility controlling the scenario is meant to add a layer of mystery, yet it only succeeds in removing any real stakes or tension from the characters' survival. Rather than building a grim, atmospheric narrative, the plot relies entirely on its central gimmick, leaving the central conflict feeling flat and predictable. While it isn't completely unwatchable due to its polished production, its complete lack of fear, impact, or memorable horror makes it a decidedly weak experience that fails to deliver.