Sometimes it's very hard to write a review about a film without spoiling any aspect of it so apologies in advance if I give away anything too much but I've had a glance at some other write-ups of the film so know what and what not to include. The film itself, co-written and produced by Joss Whedon, has been in developmental hell for years finally being released ahead of its producer's helming of The Avengers Movie. While Whedon is busy with his superheroes it is left up to the other co-writer Ben Goddard to direct a story about five college students who are all going off to the titular cabin to drink, get stoned and have sex with one another. We think we've see this all before with the stereotypes all covered from the slutty one to the jock via the intelligent one and the drug addict however Goddard and Whedon play with our perceptions almost instantly after the youngsters get to the cabin. Obviously as you can ascertain from the trailer not all is as it should be and there is another plot away from the woods which involves two middle-management types played by Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins. It is the scenes featuring Jenkins and Whitford in their office that were the most entertaining as at times their snappy delivery of the one-liners made me think I was watching a horror as if scripted by Aaron Sorkin.
The Cabin In The Woods - Trailer #1 [VO|HD] by addictomovie
My main problem with Cabin in the Woods is that we were given little reason to care about the group of five going to the cabin and we knew only very little about them. I know to an extent that that's the point as often in the young teen slasher movie genre the characters are flimsy and the acting is atrocious so maybe this is Whedon and Goddard's way of mocking those genre conventions. At the end of the day though shoddy acting is shoddy acting and I particularly thought Jesse Williams as the bookish yet handsome Holden was so wooden that he blended it with the walls of the cabin from time to time. What Whedon and Goddard do right is in asking the question what if there was something more behind those crappy horror films that we often watch and why do the teens always split up when terror strikes? The last twenty minutes or so is when the film reaches its most entertaining however those are the moments that I can't talk about. It's clear that the writers know their horror as they spoof the Japanese shock horror genre as well as the main mockery of the teens alone in the wood together. I can't say that I was ever scared but I was never bored either laughing at the witty interplay between Whitford and Jenkins or intrigued by what direction the plot would take. True if you think about anything too much you can unravel parts of the plot but overall a clever plot coupled with some decent performances from its veteran cast members means that this is a step above your normal mainstream horror film.
Verdict: While it may favour concept over quality in periods ultimately The Cabin in the Woods is an entertaining ride to which I will give 8/10
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