Back in November of 2010, MGM filed for bankruptcy. Doing so shelved a lot of projects, which included 007 Skyfall and The Hobbit. One of the more unknown projects the company took with it was Cabin in the Woods. The film has literally sat for two years waiting for distribution. A lot has happened in two years. The film’s star Chris Hemsworth has exploded in popularity, Joss Whedon has moved onto making The Avengers, and the horror genre itself has continued to evolve. Thankfully, Lionsgate picked up distribution rights and has finally released Cabin to the world. To say that the wait was worth it, and that the film was completely and unexpectedly brilliant, is still underselling it. First and foremost, this movie is a gamechanger if I have ever seen one. If Scream was a movie that took the horror movie stereotypes and spoofed them and made them relevant, then Cabin in the Woods takes the same stereotypes of the genre, reinvents them and painstakingly goes into detail about why certain things happen. I can honestly say that this movie has made me view other films like The Evil Dead or Friday the 13th in a completely different way. It's difficult not to when you are educated on why certain things to happen to certain people within the rules of a horror movie.
The plot of a film like Cabin in the Woods is extremely difficult to review. Part of the fun of this film is in the discovery of exactly what is happening, so I will stay away from as many spoilers as I can. What it boils down to (on the surface) is 5 college kids who vacation at, you guessed it, a cabin in the woods. Upon making a discovery in the cellar, they unwittingly awaken the previous owners from the grave. To be honest, none of this even scratches the surface of what this movie is actually about. It's a self aware horror movie with some humor infused, but it is also so much more than that. This film has so many reveals, but at no point does it feel convoluted. Between the opening and the final act, you'll wonder if you're even watching the same movie as what is being advertised in the trailers. On one hand, if you're expecting a simple slasher flick, you'll be disappoined. On the other hand, it's best for you to go into the movie thinking that is all you're about to watch.
This is a movie for the true horror geek. As spill.com pointed out, the horror geek is a devoted fan. We'll see just about any pile of crap horror movie. Having said that, people like me who have seen it all will get a kick out of the numerous references this movie pays homage to. Everything from Hellraiser to Call of Cthulhu is up for grabs. Hell, the director has even stated that the cabin itself is a replica of the one used in Evil Dead 2.
Unfortunately the marketing for this movie is subpar, and makes it difficult to grasp the originality because knowing too much about this movie before going in ruins it. This is a movie that will rely on word of mouth, and with a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, it seems to have gotten a head start. I was one of the people who thought this was going to be a flash in the pan, run of numbers horror movie. I should have trusted that Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard were capable of a lot more. Cabin in the Woods might turn out to be the biggest surprise of the year, and the new standard that horror movies should strive to be.
