Written by Robert Scucci | Published
Horror comedy has always been a subgenre that benefits from a healthy amount of self-awareness and meta humor to drive its point home. With high violence, the acknowledgment of common tropes, and the use of extreme and comical amounts of violence, Cabin in the Woods is the absolute master of horror comedy because it celebrates its inherent irony with an unimaginable amount of enthusiasm. You won’t just find yourself laughing in disbelief as you watch Cabin in the Woodshe’ll have trouble watching the same horror movies he plays straight because of how effectively they’re available.
Professionals
Cabin in the Woods makes you think of “the man behind the curtain” when its narrative framework is established by lab technicians Gary Stitterson (Richard Jenkins) and Steve Hadley (Bradley Whitford). Revealing that they are about to start an annual ritual involving five college students spending the weekend in an isolated cabin in the woods, Gary and Steve enter a large underground laboratory to do what they do best: witness the violent deaths of common archetypes. for some reason yet to be revealed.
All the viewer is told at that moment is that a bunch of students are getting ready to go to a party, while the real party is already happening in secret as Gary and Steve open a betting shop with their chosen victims’ lives still to spare.
Flicking dials and switches and preparing for the bloodshed to come, the experts guide their minions into a haunted closet so they can unleash hordes of monsters, demons, and zombies to do what they want.
The victims
To never run away from the dreaded dreadlocks we all know and love, Cabin in the Woods introduces Dana (Kristen Connolly), Curt Vaughan (Chris Hemsworth), Jules Louden (Anna Hutchison), Marty Mikalski (Fran Kranz), and Holden McCrea (Jesse Williams).
Each character’s personality includes the classic horror movie tropes you’d expect – Marty is a loud-mouthed stoner who won’t shut up about conspiracy theories, while Anna is known to be the bad girl in the group.
Rounding out the group are Curt and Holden, who played on the same college football team, and Dana, a prude.
The closet
Since the above two issues work simultaneously, Cabin in the Woods plays as a group of puppets trying to survive the whims of their cruel master back in the underground. From Mordecai the Harbinger’s (Tim de Zarn) warnings about the house’s violent past to the Latin words written in the mysterious old diary Patience Buckner (Jodelle Ferland) found in the house’s basement, every interaction is carefully planned and enforced using trap doors, pheromone pods, and some surface bumps, produced at night that turn a carefree weekend trip into your movie of the classic slasher.
For example, when Curt suggests that the group stay together after a violent argument, he quickly changes his mind and suggests that the group split up to cover more space when he walks by a fog vent designed to lower his inhibitions.
The Best Blood of the Most Order
Cabin layout inside Cabin in the Woods it comes out by design, which is why this movie is fun to watch. On the other hand, you get emotionally invested as the five chosen victims wander through the treacherous jungles and fight for their lives. But as soon as you’re reminded that there’s a cheering room full of experts watching their every move and betting on the outcome, you just want to throw down $20 in favor of the girl who’s still alive because you want to believe it’s the “final”. girl” makes it out alive.
Cabin in the Woods it’s like no other slasher movie you’ve seen before. While it borrows heavily from all the classic slashers, it not only tries to reinvent the genre with its own identity, but succeeds. If you are ready to experience such a violent spectacle Cabin in the Woodsyou can stream the title for free on Tubi as of this writing.