Freky Friday-The Cabin In The Woods

Today's review is probably going to be pretty short because I don't want to give anything away about this movie since spoiling anything would take away 1/2 the fun of the movie. I regrettably did not see this movie in the theaters and after seeing it on BluRay, I kick myself.

Summary courtesy of IMDB:

"Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods."

The Cabin In The Woods (2011)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1259521/

Technical (4.5) - A little bit of a back story on this movie. It was actually made in 2009 for a measly $30 Million, which is about average for a horror film, but not for one of this caliber. This was the directorial debut of a Joss Whedon prodigy (Drew Goddard) from his "Buffy" days, but you'd never know he'd never directed before (I'm sure Joss helped quite a bit, but he wasn't always there) because it is really masterfully done. Then Lionsgate shelved the project to do a post-convert to 3-D against Whedon and Goddard's wishes. Eventually they saw the error of their ways and put it out, probably in no small part because of Chris Hemsworth's sudden rise to fame. As I said, this is horror film making at it's best. Especially because they didn't use a whole mess of CGI unless they had to. That's where it struggles a bit towards the end is when the CGI parts start happening and hence the .5 deduction, but otherwise it's done very well. There's also something that I should put here, but I'll put it in the next section because there won't be a whole lot to write there lol.

Dialogue/Story (5) - Here's where "Cabin" shines the most. I can't say much, but it really turns your the tropes and stereotypes of a horror movie on its head and is pretty funny to boot. Think of how "Scream" did it and you'll get the idea. Another thing that was really awesome was the myriad of references to other horror movies that just seem to be everywhere. The most obvious and pervasive is that of "Evil Dead", but you'll get "Hellraiser", "Wrong Turn", "Night Of The Living Dead", and even a quick "The Shining" reference. It is obvious that it was written by horror fans for horror fans. "Cabin" always seems to be an homage and never a caricature which is a hell of a feat considering the style, tone, and scope of this film.

Acting (4) - Ok, this is where it gets a little odd. Watching a horror movie for the acting is like watching a porno for the acting. It's just stupid. There's some great names in this one, though, and they all bring their "A" game. Brad Whitford and Richard Jenkins are just superb and really, really funny. Hemsworth is pretty damn good, but the rest of the "kids" are only ok. Nothing to write home about. A surprise cameo towards the end will have Geeks squealing and is done pretty well.

Tilt (5) - I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Especially while playing "Spot the reference"! "Cabin" surely isn't for everyone, but if you like horror movies and enjoy an interesting story instead of just buckets and buckets of blood and torture devices this is a movie you're going to want to see.

Total Score - (4.63)

I think that's the 2nd highest yet!