Review of The Cabin in the Woods (2012) by Melonpan — 23 Sep 2012

If you've seen the trailers, chances are this movie came across as formulaic, cliche, and painfully predictable. After having seen the it, I can only think that they did this intentionally so that you'd be that much more surprised when you actually saw it. If you go to this to see a run of the mill slasher with cut and paste characters, your world is going to be thoroughly rocked. But since you know that a twist is coming (even though I've done my best not to spoil it) maybe you should take your friends to see it and don't give them any heads up. Trust me, they'll thank you afterwards.

This movie is anything but generic, and feels like a giant satire of all horror movies before it, but horror movie fans won't be disappointed for lack of horror if they go see this looking for viscera and terror. The movie contains a healthy amount of both, but with surprising success it also tosses comedy into the mix (although admittedly it is pretty dark comedy). Characters that at first glance appear to be bland stereotypes end up being extremely well developed and likable, and even the painfully generic plot and setting end up taking on an almost unreal depth.

This movie points and ridicules every other horny teenager murderbox movie that exists, while at the same time elevating them far above their previous scope and making them seem more dramatic. Honestly I really can't express exactly why this movie is so amazing without spoiling it for people, so all I can say is have a little faith and give it a shot.