Hidden treasure "in the woods"

Rating: 8/10 (13 September 2012)

The dollar movie theater is usually the supreme dictator on which movies I will see. However, whenever I can go to a movie theater and see a film for free, I will always take the offer. So last Friday, I decided to watch "Cabin in the Woods" in the Meacham Auditorium of the Oklahoma Memorial Union. Besides the fact that the film was a scary movie that had not been released to DVD yet, I was in completely in the dark. I thought it was probably going to be okay, but nothing to write home about. Instead, this movie exceeded my expectations. Written by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, and also directed by the latter, the movie tries to fool its audience into thinking that it is the stereotypical horror movie. The premise begins with five college kids who fit the scary movie archetype: the pot head, the jock, the slut, the nerd, and the virgin. They all decide to venture to a relative's sketchy cabin to blow off some steam for the weekend where the audience presumes that everybody is going to die. However, spliced between the images of these youngsters traveling to their destination and getting comfortable with each other, are scenes of workers secretly watching all of the college kids' actions. These characters discuss how "everything" rests in the fate of the five young people. Allusions, to something bigger than the workers, leave the audience guessing at every moment. Yet, the movie still brings a light-hearted comedic flare to this frightening thriller. Some might even venture to classify this as a Dark Comedy instead of a Horror film. As someone with a rather eclectic sense of humor, I actually found this movie really funny, as did the vast majority of the college-aged viewing audience. The laughs were not only in the beginning, but they traipsed all the way until the very last drop of blood was shed. And there was a lot of bloodshed. The gore in the beginning of the movie is quite light. There are a few stabbings or chokings, or mild PG-13 violence. But towards the end, there was blood everywhere, literally. In one scene, there is an entire 6six- elevator lobby with vaulted ceilings covered from head to toe in blood and guts. It was so much gore, that it was kind of tacky that it kind of cheapened the movie, even if only slightly. On the other hand, the graphic language seemed to be appropriate in most instances. I am not someone who would usually endorse any kind of vulgarity. Therefore, I believe the sexual displays were not necessary. If I had just come close to a near-death experience, my first reaction would not be to run off a little ways and have sex. Those aspects of the movie made the characters seem really fake and stupid. Conversely, the explicit words, screamed in fear or rage, conveyed the eminent danger that the characters were in. It reminded the audience that the college students were fighting for their lives, even though the workers treated the whole experience as more of a game. Although this was a terrific film with excellent execution and a brilliant plot line, I could not in good conscience recommend it to just anyone. As someone who doesn't like graphic violence, gore, sex, or language, I cannot tell someone this is a good movie unless they realize that those elements are rather prevalent in "Cabin in the Woods." This film plays off of a lot of horror movie clichés and is rumored to be as much of a genre-bender as Scream was back in the day. College students and scary movie buffs would love it. All in all, this is now one of my favorite scary movies as long as people are aware that it isn't exactly family friendly.