A Clever Idea and A Cameo Added 1 Point

Rating: 2/10 (17 December 2012)

I am a horror fan since my preteens, (I am now 71) and love a good comedy. But I don't like horror-comedy much, perhaps with the exception of "Night of The Creeps", because the purpose of horror is to scare the viewer and create suspense and terror. The comedy tends to undercut those emotions. "Cabin In The Woods" starts with a clever idea, that being some Corporate Biggies have created a setting to lure clichéd horror film types unknowingly into a fully technologically engineered location in the woods, to meet their deaths as sacrifices to an ancient group.
As others have mentioned, there is some similarity in plot to "Scream", which to me was far superior to this mess. Also "The Midnight Meat Train" has some ideas in common, but that too was infinitely more terrifying and satisfying, at least to me. "Cabin" throws in every kind of monster or creature, one after the other, and gratuitous gore with generic dialog, and plenty of f-bombs. But I don't think I really laughed once, and almost never felt any terror or suspense, because it looked so derivative and even silly.
The other thing that made this a two instead of one star was a cameo near the end by a highly respected actress (I won't say who) since while I checked the spoiler box, this was about the only thing I liked other than the concept. Way too long too, a mostly wasted hour and three quarters. A hundred jolts doth not a good horror movie make.