The Cabin in the Woods

Note: This review contains a spoiler for the film.  However, the spoiler has been fairly widely discussed by now, and is referenced in ads for the DVD and on the DVD menu.  The film also contains another twist which will not be revealed.

"The Cabin in the Woods" is very reminiscent of "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz."  It's a send-up of a genre that also functions as an example of the genre.  In this case, the film pokes fun at dumb horror movies while also functioning as its own dumb horror movie.

Early previews of the film made it seem like a very generic scary movie.  Five college students stay in the woods for a weekend, zombies appear, and nasty things happen.

As it turns out, though, their fate is being manipulated from a control room.  A team of engineers is working to ensure that these students die.

Writers Joss Whedon and Drew Pearson use this set-up to aptly parody the usual horror movie tropes, showing how gullible and dumb most of the victims are as well as how rote the scares tend to be.  But when they reveal the reason the young co-eds are being led to the slaughter, the film turns into its own ridiculous scare machine.

Whedon and Pearson are very clever.  And clearly, they've got a deep affection for scary movies, which is why they turn their film into one while displaying their awareness of how tacky they can be.  If you're a horror fanboy, this movie is right up your alley.

But movies should try to resonate with everyone, not just a subset of people who are in on the joke.  When I think about the most effective horror films I've seen--movies like "Psycho," "Rosemary's Baby," and "Jaws"--they tend to play on deep-seated fears that almost everyone can relate to: subjects like mental illness, miscarriage, or even something as simple as what's lurking in the water.  So many horror movies are predicated on pretty young things dumbly prancing to their doom.  The viewer can't take them seriously because she doesn't relate to them.  (Nor would she relate to "The Cabin in the Woods," once the twist is revealed.)

(On a more technical level, I think horror movies are much better off relying on suspense.  When they start throwing out dumb scares early on, you're reminded that you're watching a movie and lose your suspense of disbelief.)

After seeing "The Cabin in the Woods," I have to wonder what the future holds for horror.  The audience appears to know all the tricks of the genre, and the directors appear to know that they know those tricks.  Filmmakers would be much better served by ditching the ghouls and focusing on things we fear in real life.