Reviewed by Melissa Garza
Last week, I went to see 21 Jump Street with my two favorite people and today I got to go see The Cabin in the Woods with them. My best friend Ms. Megan Winkler and my awesomely sexy hubby Stephen Ray Garza accompanied me to the film I’ve been dying to see since I heard about it.
When I read in Entertainment Weekly that the creators were attempting to go against the current grain of horror movies i.e. Saw and Hostel, I was immediately Googling the release date. The article stated that The Cabin in the Woods was going to be a throwback to the old school horror movies like The Evil Dead and Halloween. This, I knew, was going to be at the very least ‘decent.’
I didn’t read spoilers online and I tried to stay away from any discussion as I didn’t want to know too much about it. I wanted to go in blind – and I’m happy I did.
The movie opens with Dana (Kristen Connolly) packing for her trip when her roommate Jules (Anna Hutchison) comes out of the bathroom with dyed blonde hair. She chastises Dana for not tearing up a picture of her old lover/professor. Jules’ boyfriend Curt (Chris Hemsworth) shows up with Holden (Jesse Williams) who Curt and Jules intends to set up with Dana. Lastly, smoking a bong while driving, Marty (Fran Kranz) arrives.
The group take off excited to go to the cabin which is owned by Curt’s cousin. It’s in the middle of nowhere and before arriving they stop at a gas station which looks like it’s out of the 50s. It’s beat-up and the sign says “closed.” Still, the attendant comes out and cryptically advises that the cabin has exchanged ownership many times – hinting something may be wrong with it. He insults Jules which causes a brief confrontation.
When they arrive at the cabin strange things begin to occur almost immediately. The cellar door flies open during a game of truth or dare. Dana is dared to go downstairs which she does. The rest of the group soon follows. Only Marty questions the actions noticing everyone is acting a little different. Jules is being too forward with all the guys and Curt, who is a sociology major, is suddenly acting like a jock. While Marty contemplates all that is changing around him, Dana finds a diary. Inside a tale of a family from the early 1900s which tortured each other and dismembered limbs as they believed pain brought them closer to faith. There’s a small saying in Latin which Dana against Marty’s wishes reads. This raises the angry dead family spoken of in the diary.
Meanwhile, an undefined organization is taking bets on the choices made by the group. They are a Big Brother/ more evil Truman Show with questionable motives revealed at the conclusion.
Overall, the movie delivers. One small pain point is that nearly every death or horrific incident follows a foretelling of sorts. The audience is warned of the events to come. Though certain casualties happen quickly, there is still an advance cautioning shown to the viewers.
Otherwise, the movie is fantastic. It has a finality in the ending which is rarely seen. The acting is great and the film has a great pace. More than any of that is within all of the horror film clichés originality is found in the subplot.
Scared Stiff Rating 8/10
