Tries Too Hard To Be Different

Rating: 6/10 (8 March 2016)

Cabin in the Woods is not just another horror movie, as the PR tries to advertise. But, in its core, maybe it is.
As the IMDb curiosities state, this movie's script was written in only three days, and it sure reflects on the movie. We are given an interesting premise, with what feels like almost a really sadistic reality show. But we already guess, of course, because it has been told to us that this movie is different, that this isn't a reality show at all.
So, from the beginning, the script tells you that all the clichés that take place in the first hour of running time are some sort of gag, that this film is kind of mocking all other horror movies by doing what they do. But they're mocking, so, they're self-aware, right? Well, that doesn't fix things.
This film has an urge to shake this weight off its shoulders from the beginning, almost fearing that the public will lose interest if they're not warned of all the silliness in the cabin-forest-zombies plot. Therefore, I think it's coward.
In the end, you get a foreshadowed conclusion (you can't predict the exact ending, but you can guess something similar). So, what can you say? It won't dazzle you, and its gimmick doesn't work. But it still offers you a good hour and a half.