An inventive, tongue-in-cheek horror comedy with both scares and laughs to fuel the party

Rating: 8/10 (16 October 2015)

With Hollywood running progressively low on fresh ideas for the horror genre, Drew Goddard and writer Joss Whedon become heroes of reinventing the horror genre in ways many fans may not expect. This teen- oriented slasher flick is by no means a newborn concept, but it offers a surprisingly sensational idea that scores the solid achievement of evenly balancing laughs with over-the-top scares and gore, while poking fun at typical horror movie stereotypes. The result is a slick comedy/horror hybrid that sustains with an execution that is undoubtedly silly, but not meant to be taken seriously, at least when it comes to spewing dark morbid humor at every turn. This horror- comedy follows five college friends head out to spend a nice weekend at the lake, while staying at a lone cabin deep in the woods. These college friends include muscle-head jock Kurt (played by Chris Hemsworth), his sexy girlfriend Jules (played by Anna Hutchinson), average, smart guy Holden (played by Jesse Williams), clean cut Dana (played by Kristen Connonlly),and an absent-minded stoner Marty (played by Fran Kranz). What starts out as a fun night of drinking and truth-or-dare quickly turns into a nightmare when a horde of zombie killers come out of nowhere and begin attacking. Now why does this happen exactly? Well, the hideous creatures are summoned and controlled by no one other than a group of technicians of a secret underground facility, where the teenagers are unknowingly being watched from hidden security cameras inside the cabin. So the teenagers must escape and survive against the chaotic, gore-filled monster onslaught.
This is not your average, everyday horror film that some come to expect. Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon take the horror-genre and slaps it with a nice tongue-in-cheek approach that may feel reminiscent to Sam Raimi's 'Evil Dead' franchise. Mixing Truman Show-like elements with the monster invasion concept, this film sets it focus on a group of college-aged party animals who must survive against a monstrous rampage conducted unlike no way ever before. That is where the diabolical-minded scientists based in a secret laboratory come in. Using their cutthroat (and unrealistic) computer programming skills, this team of technicians become to villainous hand behind pitting the lead characters in a battle against an enormous variety of monstrous figures. With evil little creatures ranging from flying pteradactyls, to Gremlin-like little monsters, to killer unicorns, to plain zombie-like minions, the plot escalates into a bombastic, monster onslaught, eliciting just enough laughs, scares, and gallons of blood and gore to entertain audiences on both sides of the comedy/horror spectrum. These sequences are profoundly scary, but spare just enough elbow room from a few good laughs. In the process, the film takes fairly swell advantage of its silliness. If there is ever a point where the film's silliness slides past the line of necessary, it would most certainly be the ending which ends the film in a rather overblown fashion, even for the already goofy premise. Nonetheless, there is also an appealing cast to be offered in the bunch. Chris Hemsworth, Kristen Connolly, and Jesse Williams provide slices of charisma, while Fran Kranz becomes a source of gut-busting humor with his goofiness inherited by his pot-smoking behavior. Then there is Anna Hutchinson who operates as a little more than a surplus of titillation and eye-candy in two scenes during the second half, for better or worse.
The Cabin in The Woods is an inventive, tongue-in-cheek comedy/horror entry with an appealing blend of over-the-top horror and comedic spirit. It is an entertaining ride for both comedy and horror fans, or perhaps anyone who can buy into the absurd premise. The film is not by no means meant to engage viewers at an intellect level. If you are not pursuing something particularly intelligent, then you have come to the right place.