What would be a boring horror film is actually a brilliant satire

Rating: 8/10 (9 June 2013)

I don't know what attracted this film to me, maybe it was the cover, maybe it was somebody saying that they can't wait to see Cabin in the Woods, so when I was wondering through the video shop I decided to pick it up to see what it was all about. In one word I would describe this movie as 'strange'. Actually I have two words that would basically describe this film, but IMDb won't actually let me write that, so I will simply say 'incredibly twisted'.
The first strange thing I found with the movie was that it opened in some sort of top secret research facility with a couple of scientists chatting away about nothing in particular and that is what caught me at first. However, the movie then jumped to the scene with the college aged kids going away on some camping trip in the woods and that was when I groaned and said 'oh no, not again.' As the movie progressed I sort of groaned even more, especially when the zombies came out of the ground. I was sort of like the guy in the film that said 'why can't we have mermaids!' My response was 'yeah! Why can't we have mermaids.' After cruising through some of the message boards I then realised why we couldn't have mermaids, and that was because this movie is actually satirical. The thing was that despite all of the clichéd slasher horror movie scenes, we kept on jumping back to this research facility (including a scene where there is a betting pool) but the director is clever because he does actually keep you guessing about what is going on. We hear about the betting pool, but we have no idea what this pool is until after the event in which they are betting on. In fact, you have no idea what the connection between the research facility and the happy (or not so happy) campers is until about halfway during the film. Mind you, there are some hints, and the stoner character (the college kid characters are all clichéd) seems to have a better idea than most (namely because the copious amount of weed that he smokes actually counter acts the drugs that are being used on them).
It is halfway through the film that it actually gets interesting, and in fact it is the purge (I won't mention what that is) that is actually my favourite part of the film. The thing is that this is a twist, and despite the fact that I have listed this commentary as containing a spoiler does not mean that I am going to give it away. You see, this is a satire, and it is a satire that pokes fun at all of the standard fare horror films that Hollywood churns out. While the cabin in the woods is considered to be standard fare (popularised by Evil Dead, where it was actually done properly) only one of the many clichés that are there. The major cliché is not only that everybody has to die (and in a particular order) but also that the who genre, the murder, killing, blood, and gore, is actually created to placate an ancient god, and that ancient god is the audience.