So after a long unplanned break we are back here at the scroll to bring you Drew Goddard's "The Cabin in the Woods". Drew is the writer of "Cloverfield" but that is not what he's known for. His best known work would be in collaboration with the other writer of this movie, writer and tv legend Joss Whedon. ( "Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, The Avengers"). Together for the last ten years, these two have collaborated in story telling and bringing to life real good classic horror through "Buffy" and "Angel". Do they manage to pull it off in this movie as well? Lets find out.
What's the plot?
The plot for this movie is unique and at the same time not. It starts off with 5 college students who venture out to a cabin in the woods for a weekend getaway of fun and tomfoolery but, then are set upon by creatures of the supernatural after speaking Latin words from a demonic book. Sound familiar? Well what if I told you that this plot is being orchestrated by another? The horror that these 5 friends come across is being instigated by what I can only describe as an evil corporate film company, who's intentions are to create horror as a way to appease an even greater evil from destroying the world.
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| From left to right: "The fool", "the scholar"," the virgin", "the athlete" and "the slut" |
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| "The typical villain" |
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| "The actual villains" |
What did you like?
I'll start by saying, that I'm a huge Joss and Drew fan, so let me be as impartial as I can. What I think I really liked right off the bat, is the fact that this is and isn't your typical "cabin in the woods" movie at the same time. The idea for the story is not something you'd probably think of right away and as for horror movies it's pretty original and yet mixed in with some familiarity at the same time. Joss tends to reuse a lot of his actors and this is something that if you're familiar with his works, you'll notice quite prominently. For myself being a fan of his, I look for those certain actors and try to compare their performance to their prior projects to see if they are showing their A game or not, for the most part they do, whether in small, or in large. For this movie you got to witness actress Amy Acker (Angel, Dollhouse), Tom Lenk( Buffy, Angel) and Fran Kranz(Dollhouse). Fran was the only one who had a major character role in this movie, playing the "stoner". However his character seems to be the smartest of them all and is the only who ends up discovering the hidden agenda in this movie.
I liked his character because he showed some dynamics and from the beginning to the end of the movie, his character is probably the only one who has some evolution. Amy and Tom have relatively smaller roles, however when they are on screen, they make it count.
The violence in this movie is quite aplenty. Especially towards the second half of it, its an all out monster attack, which is really cool. I'd definitely say I like the second half a lot more, between the story development and the violence, it definitely shines. The movie is also quite horrific, not necessarily scary, but you see a lot of twisted demonic horror throughout.
What did you not like?
First and foremost, for the type of movie it was I definitely think it could have used more gore. It's violent yes, but it's not disgusting. There is one scene when they are in the lobby and there is an all out bloodbath that takes place, however it's not very long and is the only real good demonstration of gore. I know part of that has to do with the fact that Joss isn't really into gore and going over the top. Although I think for this movie it would have benefited. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the ending. For all that was happening in the second half of the movie and how it seemed to just flow really well. The ending seems to fall a little flat in my mind and I think it could have done a lot better.
Who would you recommend this for?
If you're a fan of either Buffy,Angel, Firefly or Dollhouse then you'll definitely like this movie. This movie takes the best parts of all 4 and implements them in this movie. I think you added all those shows together, you'd just about end up with this. Also if you like "cabin in the woods" like horror movies such as "Evil Dead and Army of Darkness" You will most likely like this movie as well. Especially considering that's what its really poking fun of. Also I definitely recommend if you like this movie, you should check out those 4 shows I mentioned above and those 2 movies there, as they are all equally fucking awesome.
Final thoughts?
Whether it had been in theatres or on video, this movie is definitely worth checking out. Again it's like your stereotypical horror movie, but then again it's not, so you will definitely get a surprise out of it. If you can see this movie for its twisted story more so then its gore then you'll definitely like this movie. If you do end up liking this movie then as I said before I do highly recommend you check out their other projects, as you'll really get some good quality horror.
In the spirit of this theme "The Cabin in the Woods" gets 3.5/5 cabins in the woods.
I liked his character because he showed some dynamics and from the beginning to the end of the movie, his character is probably the only one who has some evolution. Amy and Tom have relatively smaller roles, however when they are on screen, they make it count.
The violence in this movie is quite aplenty. Especially towards the second half of it, its an all out monster attack, which is really cool. I'd definitely say I like the second half a lot more, between the story development and the violence, it definitely shines. The movie is also quite horrific, not necessarily scary, but you see a lot of twisted demonic horror throughout.
What did you not like?
First and foremost, for the type of movie it was I definitely think it could have used more gore. It's violent yes, but it's not disgusting. There is one scene when they are in the lobby and there is an all out bloodbath that takes place, however it's not very long and is the only real good demonstration of gore. I know part of that has to do with the fact that Joss isn't really into gore and going over the top. Although I think for this movie it would have benefited. I also wasn't the biggest fan of the ending. For all that was happening in the second half of the movie and how it seemed to just flow really well. The ending seems to fall a little flat in my mind and I think it could have done a lot better.
Who would you recommend this for?
If you're a fan of either Buffy,Angel, Firefly or Dollhouse then you'll definitely like this movie. This movie takes the best parts of all 4 and implements them in this movie. I think you added all those shows together, you'd just about end up with this. Also if you like "cabin in the woods" like horror movies such as "Evil Dead and Army of Darkness" You will most likely like this movie as well. Especially considering that's what its really poking fun of. Also I definitely recommend if you like this movie, you should check out those 4 shows I mentioned above and those 2 movies there, as they are all equally fucking awesome.
Final thoughts?
Whether it had been in theatres or on video, this movie is definitely worth checking out. Again it's like your stereotypical horror movie, but then again it's not, so you will definitely get a surprise out of it. If you can see this movie for its twisted story more so then its gore then you'll definitely like this movie. If you do end up liking this movie then as I said before I do highly recommend you check out their other projects, as you'll really get some good quality horror.
In the spirit of this theme "The Cabin in the Woods" gets 3.5/5 cabins in the woods.
Here is a scene from the movie:
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