The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Directed by: Drew Goddard | 95 minutes | horror, thriller | Actors: Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Jesse Williams, Chris Hemsworth, Fran Kranz, Kristen Connolly, Anna Hutchison, Brian White, Amy Acker, Jodelle Ferland, Chelah Horsdal, Tom Lenk, Monique Ganderton, Richard Cetrone, Dan Payne

Some skepticism is always in order when the makers of a film tell the public that their film will be ‘unique’ or ‘innovative’. These words turn out to be more often a lie than a truth. Hearing the promises of the makers of the horror film ‘The Cabin in the Woods’, Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon, it is not surprising that many people shrug their shoulders. Because the slogan ‘you think you know the story, you think you know the place, think again’ sounds no different than the average PR talk that precedes a film. In the case of ‘The Cabin in the Woods’, however, there appears to be a great deal of truth in these words, because ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ is indeed more than just another simplistic horror film.

Yet it is not surprising that an almost apologetic-sounding slogan has come up for the film. Because initially there seems to be very little originality about ‘The Cabin in the Woods’. Take the subject alone: ​​a group of five young people leaves for a long weekend in a detached bungalow far away from civilization to relax and party. Not exactly something that has never been done before. The main characters themselves also meet all the requirements for the ‘standard’ horror film characters. The amorous Curt (Chris Hemsworth) and Jules (Anna Hutchison) are the busier characters, Holden (Jesse Williams) and Dana (Kristen Connolly) are more serious and calmer in nature. The fifth character is that of Marty (Fran Kranz). Only the latter can be called really distinctive because the continuously stoned young man has his own view of the world, does not really fit the group in character and is therefore a very welcome addition to the company.

So far not much new under the sun and also the first part of ‘The Cabin in the Woods’, when the party ends up in the old, abandoned bungalow is nothing new (although the scene in which Jules becomes ‘truth or dare’ during a game challenged to kiss a wolf’s head is tough). However, it soon turns out that there is much more going on with the bungalow and the five young people are trapped like rats. When they unknowingly summon some evil ghosts from the past in the basement of the bungalow, life is no longer certain. It’s actually from this point on that ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ takes a slightly absurd turn. Where it can be expected that the film ends in a long, reasonably predictable survival journey, this turns out not to be the case. Without wanting to give too much away about this plot twist, you can say that fans of the better ‘hack and slash’ work will get their money’s worth, and not just about it. All brakes are released and the makers clearly couldn’t stop laughing in the orgy of blood that follows.

Although liters of blood are spilled in this film, the massacres definitely do not fall into the category of torture as we know from films like ‘Saw’ and ‘Hostel’. The way humans and monsters come to their end is funny rather than nasty and often well thought out. Unfortunately, the latter cannot be said of the underlying story about the history of the bungalow and all the other organizations that eventually turn out to be involved, because the final story about the how and what is quite laughable. Fortunately, at that point it no longer matters and the story is less important than in an average film. ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ has in any case become a remarkable film that ultimately leaves fans of the genre in particular with a huge sense of satisfaction.