Review of The Cabin in the Woods (2012) by Ben L — 24 Feb 2017

I love the fact that the movie looks at a number of the common tropes of horror films and pokes fun at them. The scenes in the control room were my favorite part because they added humor, and it was fun to see how they treated this as just another day on the job. I was definitely puzzled over what exactly was happening, but that meant I was hooked until the end when things started to get revealed.

The cast was quite good, and it was peppered with a number of Whedon regulars which I appreciated. Fran Kranz is probably my favorite because he can play the part of the stoner but I also am willing to buy the fact that he might be smarter than everyone else in the room. The chemistry between the 5 actors in the cabin worked well, and unlike most horror films of this type, I didn't hate any of them.

The world they created for this film is quite interesting, and I think I might understand it even more on a re-watch. There were certain aspects that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, and I didn't like that the characters were asking questions about the same things and I didn't feel like they ever got appropriate answers. That being said, when I let go and decided not to nitpick the intricacies of the world they created, the plot holds together well.

The climax of the movie is a thrill-a-minute ride. It's interesting how it feels like a normal horror film, but then it feels so completely different at the same time. Some of the CGI creatures are a bit lackluster, but they weren't so bad that it was annoying. I could tell they were CGI, but they usually raced through the screen so fast that it didn't have time to bother me too much. The Cabin in the Woods is a movie I enjoyed, but I think it will be better if I give it another try. It's not my favorite blend of comedy and horror, but I see why it's so popular.