Review of The Cabin in the Woods (2012) by Guillermobm — 12 Jul 2015

The Cabin in the Woods is refreshing, complex, wicked, and its final act is the dream of every horror fan. 94/100 [A-].

Directed by Drew Goddard and starring Fran Kranz and Kristen Connolly, The Cabin in the Woods is definitely the best horror film of 2012, not only for its excellent reviews, it's the horror film of the year for its refreshing and original screenplay that revolutionized the horror genre. Although it has a slow start and the first 35 minutes are character development, the whole film was quite interesting. The characters were likable and friendly. Also, it is a very confusing and strange flick, but do not worry, everything made sense at the end.

It was complex as hell and is difficult not to spoil it, but I will try. The direction was superb, the writing and the actions of the characters were smartly written and the movie is filled with lots of epic twists and memorable moments. It's not more of the same crap, everything in the film feels so fresh and original. The performances were amazing and effective. Shout out here to Fran Kranz, he's definitely the star of the film, he makes us laugh again and again, his performance was excellent. He's so underrated. It's sad that Chris Hemsworth gets all the attention and he's not even the protagonist of the movie.

The rest of the cast was hilarious and extremely likable too. Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford and Amy Acker were terrific and they added some weird humor to the film. It was made with a budget of $40 million and that is very high for a horror flick, I believe that half of the budget was used in the last 30 minutes. They were truly impressive, believe the hype. In addition, I want to add that the special effects were just good enough, do not expect mind-blowing or extremely-realistic effects. The horror genre needs more movies like this one, I mean horror films with a decent budget.

On the upside, the CGI was good enough, it has unexpected twists, comedy, tension, and gore; mostly in the last act. The second half was a bloody explosion of horror, there was a perfect balance between scares and comedy. It is a must see if you love the horror genre or if you want to watch something so messed up and different; seriously, it exceeded my expectations and it is not overrated at all. See it if you want surprises or violence, also if you want to laugh out loud. On the downside, some of the jump-scares were unnecessary and predictable, but that's my only issue with the film.