Five
college kids head for a vacation in a deserted shack (or cabin) in a remote
forest (or woods), with no-one around for miles and a very creepy basement. So far, so Evil Dead. Or Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Or...
well, you get the point, but the fact this is written and produced by Joss
Whedon, and co-written and directed by Drew Goddard, one of the men behind
Lost, should tell you that this is no ordinary textbook horror.
The recent
years have seen the horror genre be evaluated, analysed and turned on its head,
with the likes of Wes Craven’s Scream franchise and Tucker and Dale Vs Evil, and
also imbued with a greater sense of comedy, for example Shaun of the Dead and
Severance, to name two prime British examples. Cabin in the Woods takes these
films and goes much further, leaving you rethinking every slasher movie you’ve
ever seen.
I’m going
to do my best to not reveal spoilers here, but if you’re trying to avoid them
then chances are you probably aren’t reading this. The trailers have been
criticised for perhaps showing more plot than is strictly necessary, revealing
that there is more to this cabin than meets the eye, but I personally feel this
is essential for the trailer (though it could have been hinted at more subtly)
else the only trade the film would have made would be from the slasher fans
willing to pay to see them at the cinema, of which I most certainly am not. My
only trailer annoyance was the use of a scene or two from the third act that,
though I’d only seen the trailers once, still stuck with me and left me waiting
for them, over-thinking the plot as I went.
The
performances are all wonderful, particularly practically unknown Tim De Zarn as
the token redneck doomsayer the kids encounter on their way, and there’s some
casting coups for fellow Whedon-ites in Dollhouse’s Amy Acker and Fran Kranz
(whose Topher Brink is, occasional Firefly cameo aside, the best thing about
Dollhouse) as well as Chris Hemsworth, Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins.
I have
very few faults with the movie. One came because I’m a film nerd, and caught
the signposted closing cameo from a recognisable voice, and the third act feels
a little off the rails at times, but in an exhilarating, thoroughly
entertaining way, although I did question why exactly that big red button was there. I look forward to pouring through the features when it’s
released on DVD, and it’s the first film in a while that I’m actually
considering going to the cinema and watching again. Go see this film, it’s
truly wonderful, especially if you’ve ever seen a film with a cabin and some
woods, and chances are you have.
Choose
film 9/10
