Dir. Drew Goodard
Reviewed by Matt Adcock
You think you know the story - five teen friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, bad things start to happen.
So what is the secret lurking beneath the stereotypical creepy cabin? … And perhaps more importantly - who will survive and what will be left of them?
The Cabin In The Woods begins as pitch perfect horror in the vein of so many teens in peril set ups that horror fans know so well. But because this is being produced by fanboy favourite Joss ‘Firefly’ Whedon and collaborator / Director Drew ‘writer of Cloverfield’ Goodard things soon take a jaw dropping and highly amusing turn which rips the rug from underneath the viewers.
All is very much not what it seems – and in the interests of not wanting to dilute the pure pleasure of seeing and working it all out for yourself I will not explain anything, just to say that you might never watch a reality TV show in quite the same way ever again.
"What big teeth you have..."
The main cast are obviously having a good time, including Chris ‘Thor’ Hemsworth as alpha male Curt, Jesse Williams as the brainy Holden and a cracking turn from Fran Kranz as dope head Marty (imagine Shaggy from Scooby Doo – just even more wasted!). The girls are represented by the slutty blonde (Anna ‘Yellow Power Ranger’ Hutchison) and the stereotypical cute virgin Jules Dana (Kristen Connolly). These five make up the trusty 5 teens whose life expectancy doesn’t look too good – but also on hand are some nefarious corporate types embodied by Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford.
What The Cabin In The Woods does best is balance some serious disturbing gore and horror with some fantastically well observed laugh out loud comedy moments. It is this knowing interplay between the two that makes the film romp along so well - dragging the audience screaming with equal parts shock and delight in it’s wake.
"Evil Dead Style Cabin for Sale..."
Yes it gets pretty nasty at points and I certainly wouldn’t recommend anyone squeamish or easily disturbed taking a trip in these woods but for horror fans looking to have their worlds shaken up by a game-changing blast of scary endorphin stimulation – this might be the best horror film to hit for years!
Spotting the masses of horror film references throughout is a fun additional bonus whilst the climax is so Cthulhu inspired and over the top that this is one freak-em-up thrill show you’ll never forget.
Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:
öööö1/2
4.5 – Classy horror comedy fusion!!
Awesomeness öööö – monster mash up climax is unforgettable
Laughs öööö – really funny
Horror öööö – grissly n grim in places
Babes öööö – Hutchinson is yummy, Connolly is yummy too
Spiritual Enlightenment ö – don't trust the puppet masters
"hotpants and fire = hot stuff?"
"Connolly"
1 comment:
This is a hell of a fun movie that features twists that got better and better as the film went on. It's crazy that horror films can be this fun and entertaining just by smart and witty writing. However, it won't last for too long so we might as well enjoy it while Whedon and Goodard are around. Good review Matt.
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