REVIEW: The Cabin in the Woods

(Note: This post is spoiler free. But if you're planning on seeing the movie, be VERY careful about other reviews you read. I've seen several that give away all the fun.) 

Courtesy of Lionsgate

This is going to be a really vague review. Not because I don't want to talk about The Cabin in the Woods in detail – heck, I could write a doctoral dissertation on the new horror movie from Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon. But it would be a crime to give away any of the clever secrets hidden in the wildly entertaining story.

If all you're looking for is a recommendation, stop reading this and make plans to see the flick immediately. Don't watch any trailers, don't read any in-depth reviews and don't talk to anyone who's seen it. I’m not even a big horror fan and it’s still a shoo-in for my 10 Best List in December. It’s scary, it’s intelligent and – best of all – it’s wickedly funny.

As far as plot goes, know that the title is accurate but not absolute. Five typical horror movie teens — the virgin (Kristen Connolly), the not-so-virgin (Anna Hutchison), the jock (Chris Hemsworth), the egghead (Jesse Williams) and the fool (Fran Kranz) — head up to a creepy, secluded cabin for a weekend of partying. Obviously, things don’t go as planned. How bureaucratic characters played by Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins factor into that scenario is best left unexplained.

What I love most about the film is that it doesn’t rely on cheap twists to tell its story. Goddard and Whedon let you know right up front that your expectations are flawed and they have something completely different in mind. From there, they peel back the ingenious mystery a layer at a time while simultaneously ramping up the chaos onscreen. I was grinning from ear-to-ear the whole time and even applauded more than once (something I almost never do in a theater).

It would be easy to compare The Cabin in the Woods to Scream (and I’m guessing a lot of reviews will) because of the combination of horror and humor, but the collaboration between Goddard and Whedon is much more ambitious and epic in scope. The result is one of the most thrilling experiences I’ve ever had in a movie theater.

I’ll be extra-curious about this weekend’s box office results, because I feel like this movie could go either way. Call it Scott Pilgrim syndrome: it might be a gigantic hit, or it could become one of those flicks you discover five years from now and wonder why nobody told you about it sooner. Don’t fall into the second category. Get in on the ground floor and see it on the big screen. And do it soon.

The Cabin in the Woods is rated R for strong bloody horror violence and gore, language, drug use and some sexuality/nudity. 

Grade: A