The Cabin In The Woods

The Cabin In The Woods

Directed By: Drew Goddard

Written By: Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard

Produced By: Joss Whedon

Cast: Chris Hemsworth (Thor, The Avengers), Kristen Connolly, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kanz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford

Plot: Five unsuspecting teenagers go to 'The Cabin In The Woods' to get away from college for the weekend. What they do not realise, is that they are being manipulated by a group of sadistic 'puppeteers'.

 The films' premise comes across as rather generic; five teens on holiday in a remote location get slaughtered one by one by a horrifying force. The film does follow this, but in a completely unconventional way. We see how they are being controlled by an organization who are watching them, using whatever means available to have them killed in specific ways. It is almost as if the organization are trying to parody various 80's slasher flicks. However, there are moments which are genuinely scary, and some of the jumps are brilliant, but they do seem to lack true terror.  

 I was impressed with Chris Hemsworth's performance as the Jock. We find that he is actually quite intellectual, and that he is majoring in Sociology at College. There is a short but brilliant scene where he suggests some books for another character to read, which I feel is a great piece of character development, and helps the audience connect with his character. We end up identifying with all of the characters in one way or another, and as one of the men controlling the deaths says himself "I'm kinda routing for her" 

I feel that the film its' self is one giant twist, as every generic cliche is turned on it's head, but with a few similar components, for example, creepy cabin and Zombies, two of the characters go out in the woods to have sex, but every part of it is engineered by the 'Organization'. Fans of blood and guts won't be disappointed, as the final fifteen-twenty minutes is a violent blood bath between a mix of horror genres. I think that Whedon and Goddard have reinvented the horror genre, creating a fresh blend of horror and science fiction that hasn't been done before. The film is one of the most intriguing to have been released this year so far.

6/10

Written By Eammon Jacobs