Weekend Streamer flashback: ‘The Cabin in the Woods’

In honor of Halloween weekend, it’s time now for another Weekend Streamer flashback. This week it’s one of my favorite horror movies from recent years, “The Cabin in the Woods.” Here’s a slightly amended version of my Weekend Streamer post from last year about the movie. Minor spoilers ahead.
“The Cabin in the Woods” is simultaneously a member of a specific horror genre, an examination of it and of horror movies in general, and a thorough attempt to blow up what these movies can and can’t do. It’s a daring, audacious movie, and it’s one of the most entertaining films I’ve seen in the past few years.
A word of caution upfront: While normally I try to avoid spoilers, with this movie I’m going to have to be practically opaque. I’m not doing this to be deliberately obtuse; it’s just that this movie gives new meaning to the word “twist.” In the course of a breakneck 90 minutes, writer Joss Whedon (yes, THAT Joss Whedon) and writer-director Drew Goddard take us on a ride that crosses over multiple genres and is nearly constantly reinventing itself. Really, you should just see this movie knowing absolutely nothing, but if you’re not willing to do that, I’m going to have to give away some very minor spoilers while leaving the movie’s biggest surprises intact.
Right, let’s dig in. The setup is by now very, very familiar: Five college kids hop in an RV to head off for a weekend of partying at a remote cabin in the woods, where they’re attacked by zombies. Except in literally the first minute, before we even see the college kids, the movie gives away (what seems to be) its big twist: The kids are all being monitored and manipulated by a team based in an underground bunker. The team, led by two old pros played by Bradley Whitford (aka Josh Lyman from “The West Wing,” now and forever) and Richard Jenkins, has the scenario rigged down to the finest detail and can change the environment at will to suit their needs.
And that’s all I’m willing to tell you about the plot, other than that you may think you see where this is going but you don’t. That’s not an insult; it’s a testament to how off-the-wall the script from Whedon and Goddard is and how far they’re willing to stretch their initial conceit. As each revelation piles on and the movie continues on its unhinged path, you find yourself sitting there with your mouth agape wondering what on Earth is coming next. “Expect the unexpected” is a reviewing cliche, and here it doesn’t even really apply because Whedon and Goddard keep finding ways to expand the scope of what’s possibile and redefine what “unexpected” can be.
Aside from finding new ways to blindside the audience with twists, the other things Whedon and Goddard are out to do in “Cabin in the Woods” is offer some meta commentary on horror movie tropes and how the form is crying out for something new. To give away the best examples of this would be to ruin some key reveals, but an early moment will suffice. When we first meet the college students, they appear to be stock types: The virgin, the jock, the slut, the stoner and the nerd. But the script then throws us a couple curve balls; Dana (Kristen Connolly) the “virgin” has just gotten out of an affair with one of her professors, Curt (Chris Hemsworth) the jock is a sociology major on full academic scholarship, and so on. However, once they get to the cabin, the team in the bunker conspires to have them revert back to their types.
This is a none-too-subtle jab by Whedon and Goddard at how horror movies use and abuse stock characters in their scripts. The commentary isn’t exactly subtle, but neither is it obnoxious, and it’s always in service of the story. It’s the difference between “reference,” which is sometimes cute but never very funny and gets old quickly, and “parody/commentary,” which actually explores how cliches work and uses them to talk about new ideas and make a point.
(Quick point: I’ve spent much of my time thus far talking about the movie’s script, but it’s worth mentioning that the entire cast does great work here with some fairly tricky material. Extra props to Whitford, Jenkins, Connolly and the very hilarious Fran Kranz as Marty, the group’s obligatory stoner.)
“Cabin in the Woods” may be made almost entirely out of twists, but even on repeat viewing it holds up because of how well it’s put together. It may not be the scariest movie ever made, or the most bloody, but what it lacks in those areas it makes up for in sheer fun and daring. As such, it’s a perfect movie to cap our month-long excursion into horror.
“The Cabin in the Woods” is available on Netflix and Amazon Instant Video. Amazon Prime member can stream it for free.