The fantastic "The Cabin in the Woods" (2012) is a surprise-filled movie that is difficult to review without spoilers ...

Rating: 9/10 (4 October 2014)

... so I can't say much about it. Suffice to say, I really, really liked it – I'd give it a 9 out of 10.
This is a smart, inventive film that is probably the most creative thing I've seen in a long time – it's safe to say that I've never seen anything like it. Do yourself a favor and avoid news articles or websites like IMDb.com – you'll enjoy this much more if you know little about it.
It actually takes a while to get going. I had a lukewarm response to this movie for maybe its entire first half. The end — which brings together a surprising number of story elements (I really can't say more) – really redeemed it. The buildup to that ending is a lot of things that have long been established as horror clichés. But that's intentional, as screenwriter Drew Goddard and producer Joss Whedon made it, I think, partly as a parody and partly as an homage to the genre.
A few caveats  if you've been looking forward to this movie for a while, as I have, you're aware that it was very well reviewed. But I'm pretty sure it got so much praise because it was creative and original – not because it was the best HORROR movie ever made. The central plot device is too contrived and fantastic to be really frightening, and the movie is too self-aware to allow us to forget it's just a movie. Parts of it were disturbing, but there's just too much humor to make this a truly scary movie. You're not sitting down to "The Exorcist" or "The Shining."
Also, various reviews seem to indicate a twist that is impossible to guess. This isn't true. Horror fans – especially fans of a certain subgenre – will know the big reveal before the halfway mark, especially if they listen to the dialogue of the story's antagonists. Hell, I was just talking about it with another aspiring horror writer just the other day. Don't expect a surprise on the level of "The Sixth Sense" or "Unbreakable."
Still, this was a hell of a lot of fun. And what a GREAT Halloween movie it would make!! It would also be fun to watch back-to-back with "Cabin Fever" or one of the "Evil Dead" movies, given their similar settings.
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