This Isn't Your Average Horror Movie: Andrew's Review of "The Cabin in the Woods" (2011)

Directed By: Drew Goddard

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford

Rating: R for strong bloody horror violence and gore, language, drug use and some sexuality/nudity

Synopsis: Five college friends go to an isolated cabin for a fun weekend. You have your jock, your hot girl, your stoner, your sensitive guy and your virginal girl. It's a scenario we've all seen before; except there's more than meets the eye at this cabin. Slowly but surely we find out why horror movie characters do what they do.

REVIEW 

Sarah: Hello again readers! Tonight I had to work, so Andrew went and saw The Cabin in the Woods by himself. He would have seen it by himself anyway since it IS a horror movie. Yeah, not a fan. So, we are going to do the old-fashioned interview review. 

Well, Andrew? What did you think?

Andrew: The short but sweet answer is: The Cabin in the Woods must just be my all-time favorite movie now that I have seen it.

Editor's Note: Even if you've seen commercials, the trailer or photos from this movie, we won't be posting any pics in this review so as to try and not give too much away.

S: Yea, but why? You have seen so many horror movies. Heck, we OWN a lot of horror movies because of you! What made this one different?

A: This one was different because it was a deconstruction of the horror genre that we haven't seen since Wes Craven's Scream, but it did it in a different way that was completely enjoyable in it's own right. As a horror movie fan (it IS my favorite genre) this film had it all - your stereotypical characters, the setting (obviously), it's fair share of gore, humor, but more importantly it's an incredible homage to horror films that came before it.

S: I had heard it being compared to Scream. So that's good because it has seemed lately that the horror genre has been acking. So here is a question...this film was filmed three years ago right? So how does the acting compare to the actors' careers now?

A: Well I think that aspect may have been a little overblown simply because of all the main actors, Chris Hemsworth (Thor) is the only one who's shot into superstardom. I know Jesse Williams has his own thing going on with his role on Grey's Anatomy but Hemsworth is the big name to come from this one. They both do a fine job. You can clearly see hints of why Hemsworth was cast as Thor.

Overall the acting is actually quite good for a horror film. I know some might say otherwise, but those people need to remember that everything done in this movie is done for an exact purpose, and so if the characters SEEM too cliché it's because they're SUPPOSED to.

Richard Jenkins (Stepbrothers) and Bradley Whitford (The West Wing) are also quite important and do a fantastic job. They had me laughing quite a bit. I know you saw Jenkins when he was on Good Morning America to promote the movie, but I urge our readers to go into this film knowing as little as possible beforehand. It will maximize the enjoyment you'll get out of it.

S: Yes, I did get a little sneak preview about some of this movie's finer points, but I kind of need to do that with horror movies. get as much information as I can because if I know the scary points, then they won't freak me out as much. 

How were the "jumpy" parts? Was there enough boo parts?

A: See that's the thing - the more I think about it the more I realized that it's really not THAT scary. Sure, there are scenes that are pretty tense and there's some boo scares that work organically or because it's all a part of the grand scheme of things. Overall though, it maybe could have been scarier. It all still works for me and doesn't lessen any of how I feel about this movie. It's still fantastic.

I think I really got more enjoyment in the mystery of the whole thing, how parts of the mystery were dispensed and how it all came together. The mixture of that, the humor and the nods to the horror genre made it incredibly satisfying for me.

S: I am so glad that you liked it! Yea, I will admit that it looked pretty good, even for a scary movie. 

So, Andrew, what would you tell our readers about seeing this movie? Is it worth seeing on the big screen?

A: If you are a fan of the horror genre you absolutely positively have to see The Cabin in the Woods in theatres. I smiled from beginning to end, and when the third-act came around I had only one thought repeating in my head: "This is the greatest thing I've ever seen."

If you're not a fan of the horror genre then it still might behoove you to see this with a group of friends in the theatre. Or when it comes out on DVD/Blu-Ray you should gather with friends, grab some beers, turn off the lights and enjoy it that way.

Regardless, The Cabin in the Woods is an instant classic addition to the horror genre. We WILL be owning it.

(Out of Five)

Our Preview of This Week's New Releases (For Friday, April 13th)

Andrew: Hello readers! It's time for our weekly preview of this week's new theatrical releases, and honestly, this has been a weekend I've been looking forward to for some time.

Sarah, can you take a guess as to why that is?

Sarah: Well, could it be because there is a movie coming out that you have only been waiting some three years for it to be released?

A: Correct! It's been almost three years since this week's The Cabin in the Woods was finished filming, which means I've been waiting that long for this highly anticipated horror film by first time director Drew Goddard.

Co-written by Goddard and Joss Whedon (of Buffy the Vampire fame and director of this summer's The Avengers) and directed by Goddard (who also wrote Cloverfield), The Cabin in the Woods is a twist on the cliche...well...teenagers go to a you-know-what film. Describe by it's writers as a "loving hate letter," it's a film that looks to put the horror genre on its head the way Scream did back in 1997. It should also be fun to finally see Chris Hemsworth in a role he finished playing before he broke out as Thor.

Official Trailer for The Cabin in the Woods

S: Well that is another one that you will be going by yourself to see. I will have to interview you when you come back from that one. Yea, not so excited for this one to come out, because it means its just another movie that I won't go see on the big screen. 

Now, while it is a big one, The Cabin in the Woods is not the only movie coming out this weekend. We also have Lockout coming out. This futuristic movie looks pretty sweet! What do you think?

A: When I first heard about this movie it was called MS One: Maximum Security, which sounded like the stupidest thing I'd ever heard. Then I watched the trailer (as you should, too, readers) and I immediately pegged this film as one we needed to see.

Written from an original idea by Luc Besson, the French director/writer/producer most famous for Leon: The Professional and The Fifth Element, the idea of a John McCLane-type tough guy having to go into a space prison to save the President's daughter just SEEMS awesome. I've heard that some of the special effects are perfect, but all I'm really looking for from Lockout is action, explosions and one-liners from Guy Pearce.

Official Trailer for Lockout

S: Yea, I am excited for this one. I think the whole "prison in space" is pretty cool. Also a big fan of Guy Pearce, so can't wait to see this one!

Now...we have to have one of the bad movies...The Three Stooges. I really am at a loss as to why people thought that this movie needed to be made.

A: Now here's the thing about The Three Stooges, when this film was first announced there was a great deal of excitement surrounding it because of who was SUPPOSED to be playing the Three Stooges: Benicio del Toro as Moe, Sean Penn as Larry and Jim Carrey as Curly. That's a film I would have seen. 

Regrettably, all three ended up dropping out and we ended up with Will Sasso as Curly, Sean Hayes as Larry and someone named Chris Diamantopolous as Moe. It's still directed by the Farrelly Brothers, but it's no longer a film I wish to see. If, for some reason we do end up seeing this film, I'd be interested in seeing how it works with it being three separate "episodes" put together. My hopes are not high, though.

Official Trailer for The Three Stooges

S: Yeah and with all of the extras, this movie is starting to become Epic Movie-esque. Just doesn’t look good. I am going to go ahead and say that we will not be wasting our money by seeing this one in theatres. 

While we are starting to get into the blockbuster season, this is kind of a quiet week. As the weeks progress though, you can be sure that we will be seeing as many movies a week as possible.

A: It might be quiet for YOU, but I'm definitely seeing The Cabin in the Woods as soon as we get back from Baltimore this weekend!

Alright readers, so to wrap up, here's the most likely order we'll be seeing this week's new releases together:

1.) Lockout

2.) The Cabin in the Woods

3.) The Three Stooges

Fair warning, we probably won't be seeing any of these films this weekend because of our trip to Maryland, but when we return we'll try to get to Lockout and I'll try to get to The Cabin in the Woods as soon as possible! Thanks for reading!