The Cabin in the Woods: Homage to Horror

Rating: 8/10 (14 May 2013)

I have a confession – last night was the first time I saw Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods. Believe me, I hang my head in shame whilst writing this admittance. Now, however, I can sit bolt upright with a big grin on my face after experiencing such a brilliant film. I enjoyed it so much in fact, that I feel compelled to write this somewhat love letter to a film that is well... a love letter in itself, a declaration of adoration for the horror genre.
For those of you who have not seen it (I won't lambast you as I don't really have a leg to stand on here) the film follows the basic premise of five teens taking a vacation to a cabin... in the woods (funnily enough). Whilst there they manage to unearth some deadly goings on and all hell ensues, as each teen is ultimately killed off one by one. Pretty formulaic no? Well herein lies the brilliance in the film – Goddard and Whedon not only recognise this traditional horror formula but wave it in our faces and play with it for the entirety of the film . From the beginning we are introduced to Gary Sitterson and Steve Hadley (wonderfully played by Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford), who are technicians or 'gamemasters' manning a soulless control room. They (to a certain extent) control the fate of said teens, moulding them into stereotypes (slut, jock, joker, nerd and virgin) and induce pheromones that ultimately make them hornier and stupider (heaven forbid they actually stick together in a crisis). Basically every horror cliché is knowingly implemented in order to cause the inevitable demise of our beloved teenage protagonists (or so we are led to think). Now, I know what you're thinking and yes – Wes Craven did do this with Scream in 1996. However, his postmodern take was primarily on the slasher sub- genre. Goddard and Whedon cover it all.
The death of each teen is caused by the zombified Buckner family, an undead crew the teens unknowingly raised themselves. Whilst I love a bit of zombie action as much as the next person, it albeit felt anti- climactic. That is until two surviving teens manage to break into the control facility and let loose every horror creation you could ever think of via a "system purge". An all matter of carnage ensues creating the most entertaining sequence of the film. Fair enough, the ending of the film may spoil the whole experience for some but for me it didn't – I was still reeling with enjoyment over a Merman eating Hadley. In fact, I will still reeling with enjoyment over the preceeding 80 minutes or so.
As a film I believe it was totally miss-marketed and therefore underrated. It's not your typical horror film as most punters believed, nor is it a "game-changer". It's an intellectual, postmodern homage intertwining every horror cliché and monster into the narrative. That, and it's all spectacularly delivered via brilliant script and enjoyable performances (particularly by Jenkins and Whitford). There is no literal breaking of the "fourth wall" but Goddard and Whedon know we are there and are having fun with us. Well, trying to anyway. For those unfamiliar with the horror genre, the subtext and intertextual references will be totally lost on them. The influx of all things monstrous at the end will no doubt appear silly and definitely not terrifying (although that in itself is entirely subjective. For instance, if you have a fear of clowns or extremely toothy sugar plum fairies, odds are you will get a bit frightened). To horror aficionado's, however, it's a celebration, a love letter, a joyous game of who's-who in the horror genre as we revel in their destruction.
The film is also wonderfully comical. The chemistry and one-liners from Hadley and Sitterson shine throughout and a scene transition within which the "final girl" reaches her apparent demise, but in the background whilst control room workers celebrate, is the epitome of sadistic comedy.
As much as it is a love letter to the horror genre, it in some ways, is also a critique. The film highlights generic issues of senseless nudity via a scene in which men eagerly await a pair of boobs ("Does it really matter if we see...?" "Got to keep the customer satisfied..."). The five teens are also caricatures of the contemporary vacuous types that go hand in hand with the genre. Goddard and Whedon, furthermore, denounce the genres recent devolution in to torture porn territory by not including it whatsoever.
Equally, there are a few criticisms toward the film itself. The use of CGI detracts from the experience and appears noticeably out of place. Also, as I have already touched upon, the ending was perhaps a step too far. The sadist in me would have preferred an even more nihilistic approach, with the film ending at Dana (our surviving 'virgin') shooting Marty (the 'joker'). Critics have expressed a disliking toward the films self-referential nature and lack of scares. However, I disagree. I may be biased as a horror fanatic, but there are enough thrills and spills to entertain everyone. Furthermore a little intelligence and self- reflexivity never hurt anyone... apart from those in the film of course.
I completely understand that some may hate this film, finding it pretentious, silly and not even remotely scary. But hell, in essence it's two grown fan boys writing a love letter to the hyperdiegetic world of horror, and boy... did I enjoy reading it.