It's taken a while and, for some of us, The Cabin In The Woods looked like it would never be finished or face the light of day. I was lucky enough to get to the VIP showing in London and on Friday 13th, the film finally went on public release.
So what's all the fuss about? Plenty. Let's start with a writing and directing team of Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse) and Drew Goddard (Buffy, Angel, Alias, Lost). Both are credited with writing this but only Goddard gets a credit for directing.
The basic plot is: Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.
Yup, it sounds like your standard bunch of clowns go off to the woods in order to die. Their sacrifice is not in vain as we, the watching public, are there to enjoy the suffering and way that they are going to die.
That said, the expectation of anything written by this partnership is for something a little quirky, off the wall and this film is no different. It has some interesting moment, some cool twists and turns, some fantastic make-up and a lot of moments where you can't help but laugh out loud. I think I laughed more than I jumped at this film but that didn't detract from the quality of the film.
This is as much black comedy as horror satire and is typical of the way the Whedon likes to poke fun at those who take him too seriously.
Would I go and see it again? Yes. Should you go and see it? Very much so as long as you don't expect this to be a pure horror film.
So how did it rate?
Plot : 6/10
Special Effects : 8/10
Script : 7/10
Twists and turns: 8/10
Overall rating : 7.5/10
Review:
If you don't want to read any Spoilers STOP HERE
Right from the opening sequence, the film sets out to unsettle and confuse the viewer. You've sat down expecting to see a bunch of people die horribly in a strange cabin in the middle of the woods so when the opening scene is set in a research laboratory, things feel odd. At first, I thought this was the usual trailer filler for a different film but it's not.
In this opening scene we see two guys - Sitterson (played by Richard Jenkins) and Hadley (played by Bradley Whitford) walking through a large research lab talking about what we discover to be the project they are involved in. The problem is that they are consistently being upstaged by the Japanese but this time, they believe they will get it right.
Cut to two girls in a flat who are packing to go away for the weekend. One is the geek/virgin - Dana (played by Kristen Connolly) while the other, Jules (played by Anna Hutchinson), is much more focused on partying through the weekend and has just decided to go blonde.
Enter the sports jock, Curt (played by Chris Hemsworth), and shortly after that his mate Holden, (played by Jesse Williams). Any more stereotyping and we'd be at risk of committing some politically incorrect offence.
As the four of them are packing the RV, enter character five, Marty, (played by Fran Kranz), with one of the best arrival scenes for years. Car pulls up wreathed in smoke which turns out to be coming from some industrial looking bong. When told he can't take the bong into the RV is conveniently folds down into a coffee travel mug. Cool!
So into the RV and off they go on their journey. At this point what the opening scene was all about makes little sense. As usual for these road trip or is that roadkill films, they stop in the middle of nowhere to get gas. It's a weird encounter and gets you into the mood for some nice bloodletting.
After driving away from the gas station (I'm still not convinced that they actually managed to get any fuel), they find the tunnel leading to the cabin. At that point, we follow an eagle flying over the road and as the RV disappears into the tunnel the eagle banks and soars and then flies into an large electric fence and is killed. Once again, you are left just a little unsettled as to where this is going.
A few scenes later and it's starting to make sense. This is a reality TV show where those in the research lab are betting on what they will do next. When they find the cellar, it's all about what they do that will determine which of several scenarios will cause their death.
As befits the basic plot, they read a diary which means death by zombie. Slight yawn at this moment but hey, we've seen no blood yet so let's get it on. After reading the diary, they all go upstairs and carry on with their evening. Eventually, Jules and Curt decide to go off for the usual 'sex in the woods' scene. Cool twist, it turns out that they had been selected way before the weekend as the hair dye used by Jules was designed to turn her slutty.
Once out in the woods, the moon is turned on as required but something is stirring. When they don't get down to sex quickly enough, the mist is turn up which turns out to be chemically enhanced with pheromones. Just as they finally get down to it, Jules dies and Curt barely gets back to the cabin.
After Jules death, we see blood pouring into an image carved into rock. This was cool as it introduced ritual killing as another dimension. Lots of screaming, blood letting and silliness later, Curt, Dana and Marty get away in the RV only to be trapped when the tunnel they had come through to get to the cabin is blown up.
Curt then offers to get help so he takes the motorbike and tried to jump the gorge only to hit the same wall as the eagle earlier. This is seen by Dana and Marty and causes chaos in the control room. Marty decides to find another way out of the valley by driving back past the cabin but on the way he is attacked and the RV ends up in the water and we are led to believe he has died.
But something is wrong. We discover that Dana's death is optional but things still aren't going to plan. Suddenly, it becomes clear that Marty isn't dead. He's been protected all along by the amount of dope he's smoked.
Marty contrives a way to hide with Dana and they discover that there is a lift that can possibly get them out. This is where the genius of Whedon and Goddard really comes into play. They discover that they are in a pod and when the camera pans out, it is clear that all the monsters there ever were are also in their own pod, just waiting to be called upon.
When they do get out of the pod they are attacked by security teams who are convinced that they have to die to save everything. Eluding the security teams, Marty takes the nuclear option and lets all the monsters out. More bloodletting than anyone could have hoped for then ensues. The special effects, make-up, CGI and choreography is fabulous.
At this point, we see Sitterson and Hadley trying to survive and save themselves and, it transpires, the world. Eventually, Marty and Dana elude all the security teams and monsters vying for their blood and find themselves at the heart of everything.
They are now in a large chamber where they see the carvings on the wall. As they try to put it all together, Whedon and Goddard throw one last curve ball. Up pops the queen of strange, the last woman in the world you'd get on a strange space craft with - Sigourney Weaver as the director.
She now explains the whole plot to Marty and Dana and tells Dana that unless Marty dies, the horror beneath (very Lovecraftian) will escape and consume the world. Dana does think about it for a minute but the moment passes and apart from some more gratuitous eating and slaying and bloodletting, that's the end. We don't quite see them die but there's no real room here for a sequel.
Fantastic film, more plot twists than you have any right to expect in a single film and some brilliant acting all round.
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