The Cabin in the Woods

You’ve seen the movie: five college students decide to take a weekend trip out into the woods and something goes horribly, murderously wrong. But what if there were more to it; what if there was something, or someone, manipulating the entire thing, down to every last conceivable detail? That’s what Dana (Connolly), Curt (Hemsworth), Jules, Holden and Marty (Kranz) discover, and the worst night of their lives takes on new meaning. Their fight for survival turns swiftly into a situation with entirely more apocalyptic prospects, and along the way, sacrifices must be made…

To say much more would spoil one of The Cabin in the Woods best concepts; suffice to say, the film is overall handled brilliantly by first time big screen director Drew Goddard. The script, by Goddard and Joss “Lord of the Geeks” Whedon, is also one of the film’s best points and contains much of the trademark humour present in Whedon’s other works whilst still being a horror at heart.

The actors also put in great performances, a pre-Thor Hemsworth (the film was supposed to come out in 2010 and was only recently rescued) and Connolly being some of the best, but Kranz easily steals the film as the group’s resident stoner who might actually be their best hope of survival. There’s also a great cameo (again, spoilers!) by a sci-fi legend towards the end of the film, though it is somewhat out of nowhere and slightly alien to the rest of the film.

With a third act that really causes you to re-evaluate the movie, and an overall smart and funny spin on the horror genre, The Cabin in the Woods is a brilliant film that deserves to be seen at least once, if only to prove that original horror isn’t as dead and buried as you’d think.

Tom Freeman