Absolute blast

Rating: Null/10 (8 January 2014)

Five college kids - the jock, the party girl, the innocent girl, the hippie and the nerd - all decide to spend a holiday on a remote cabin, swimming, grilling, drinking, all around partying. Yet all is not as it seems.
Sound familiar? Yes, it's the done-to-death, classical B-horror movie plot about young adults getting into trouble, with lots of gore, screaming and the dumb blond always dies first. Am I right? And dare I guess that you honestly couldn't care less about another one? Luckily for you, this film is not just another B-horror movie. It's all that and more. With The Cabin in the Woods, director Joss Whedon delves into one of his all time favourite genres, yet he's not content just directing a really good scream fest. He knows the genre inside out, he knows all the tricks, all the clichés, all the conventions, and just like with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, he wants to take all these and turn them upside down while still staying true to them.
I cannot really say it otherwise, this movie is amazing. It plays all the clichés right from the very start, except when it suddenly veers into the exact opposite direction, only to immediately pounce back when you least expect it. It's a constantly surprising, constantly thrilling and constantly exciting roller coaster of jokes, hidden meanings, lampshade hangings and parodies. And yet it's a fine horror movie in its own right. It's that and more.
And that's pretty much all I can say about the movie without spoiling your fun. On the technical side of thing, I have no complaints. It's well-acted, well-shot, well-produced film, but its biggest value lies in its vision, its idea that's all Whedon. Trust me, if you're a fan of horror, you owe it to yourself to watch this film. You've never seen anything quite like it.