One for the horror fans

Rating: 10/10 (4 May 2012)

It has literally been years since the horror genre had something nice to offer, with crap security camera footage "films" dominating the landscape (crap like PARANORMAL ACTIVITY) after the demise of the once mighty torture porn (SAW and the rest). Just when horror fans like me began to lose hope, along comes THE CABIN IN THE WOODS which plays as both a tribute and a subtle parody of the horror genre.
The basic plot is basically a copy-paste version of EVIL DEAD; some teens go to a cabin in the woods to party and then cue the ancient unspeakable horror. If you think that's bland, remember that the trailers made it obvious that there was something more to this bare bones plot and by god, there IS a lot more than just a bunch of teens getting high and drunk in some run down shack. If you haven't seen the trailers prior to the film, well let's just say you're in for a lot of twists and turns. To say anymore about this could end up spoiling more than one detail so I'll just say that the plot is a lot smarter than you could expect.
While it does pay tribute and homage to an old, tried and tested genre, the movie doesn't fail to be both funny and horrifying. It does more than just play out the genre conventions straight. The script is dotted with moments of random dark humor that work in the story's context. The dialogue points out some flaws and stereotypes of the genre but it never does it in an "In your FACE!!" way similar to say, SCREAM (not to say it's bad); it's really subtle so if you know the conventions, you'll get the jokes. The characters may act in their stereotypical ways but for once this is actually justified. Every little bit of the genre that made it more of a joke as the decades went by is given justification and it works.
The horror is old school; kill shots, decapitations, nightmarish creatures, etc... none of that kill shot cutting seen a lot in PG-13 garbage or the shaky camera crap seen way too many times. This is a HORROR movie so people die on screen, not off screen like today's "horror" which are too scared to show even a drop of blood. Visually it may not be the most impressive collection of on-screen kills ever imagined but in a time when almost everything is being marketed to children, this is more than a refresher.
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS is really for the horror fans; it's for people who've grown up with the likes of Freddy Kruger and have grown weary of today's "horror." It's not only a fright-fest, it's a lot smarter than one could expect and it works. If you're new to the genre or you don't really like it, you'll either get it or not. Otherwise if you like horror movies with some sort of passion, you'll like this one.