The Cabin in the Woods

I think the way to enjoy this one even more than it is is to try to forget that you are going into a movie from which you have probably already heard plenty about its premise. It’s always been the case when a movie gives you a lot of info upfront, but the truth is that The Cabin in the Woods would be much more enjoyable if you thought you were about to see a rather run of the mill horror movie. It actually does start out like that, and it doesn’t take long before you’ve got a list of typical horror cliche that you’re ticking off mentally. What happens next makes me absolutely adore this movie. The film really is aware of the tropes used by the horror genre. And rather than hide from them, it sets up some characters who seem pretty stock standard, only for things to change when we get to see what goes on behind the scenes. The best part about the humor working for me is that even when things get completely absurd I know, a few minutes later, I’m going to be reminded that everyone is in real peril. So there’s an interesting push and pull between the two sides. That being said, I really liked the way it got bigger and more ridiculous over time. Starting off with a whole scene set within the confines of a cabin was kind of cool, but ultimately it ended up throwing everything from the horror genre at me and having a bunch of these scary monsters running around. And half my enjoyment of watching them come out of nowhere was trying to see if I could catch sight of them peeking out of frame. It was totally made by folks who actually enjoy horror movies. I mean, sure, you can make fun of a genre without necessarily disliking its various aspects, but this movie seemed like it knew exactly which ones were worth poking fun at, while acknowledging why they’re enjoyable to begin with. You’ll probably want to read as little about this as possible, unless you’re into that sort of thing. I personally didn’t want to know what was coming up until I’d seen it myself. For me at least, part of the joy came from seeing just how different from the original cabin set up things had gotten. One of the few horror/comedies where neither aspect takes over, either making the comedy become a spoof or the horror getting lost completely. Just good fun, sometimes, which turns on a dime into something nastier. Basically a love letter to horror done by people interested in tearing it down to figure out why it worked.