I give The Cabin in the Woods a solid A.I won't spoil the movie or give you a detailed plot. All you need to know is that five college-age people travel together to an isolated cabin intending on a fun-filled weekend. Chaos ensues. But there's so much more to the story, as trailers for the movie have probably indicated.
Though labeled horror, this movie isn't scary. It's gory, smart, and spooky. Mostly it's a mystery, and you spend the first three quarters of it trying figure out what the heck is really going on.
Any horror buff will get a thrill out of the genre conventions touched on in this film. Nods to Romero, Poe, especially to HP Lovecraft, and other great horror aficionados are evident. (Loved the wink at Clive Barker.)
It's not a movie for kids. The gore is, well, gory. But it totally fits. This is not torture porn. It's not a slasher flick. It's a well thought out movie for people who like horror and what horror is really about, delving into the human psyche. Okay, that sounded deep, and the movie isn't that intense. It's fun, laugh-out-loud funny, and clever without being pretentious.
I loved it. And I can't help giving it anything less than an A.
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4 comments:
Oh man, I was SO hoping I could watch this movie. I LOVE Joss Whedon's stuff, but I just can't stomach gore. Bummer. =(
Thanks for the review, Marie. You told me exactly what I needed to know about this movie.
Anara
AnaraBella.com
Oh man, Anara. You need to see this. Watch it with a friend and have him/her tell you when to cover your eyes. It's not ALL gore. I'm telling you, it's a terrific movie. And the Joss Whedon tie had me itching to see it to. I wasn't disappointed. :) Then again, I like the gore.
Damn, I want to see this movie so much. Is it really obvious when the gory parts are coming? Or do they totally take you by surprise?
If I had an inkling when they were coming, I could cover my eyes (yes, I freely admit I'm a wuss LOL). There are a number of movies I really enjoy watching that I do that with (The Terminator and Aliens for example). They're not classed as horror, but they do have gory parts in them. But because I know when the gory parts are coming (I've lost count of how many times we've watched them), I just cover my eyes at the pertinent parts.
Do you think that would work with this movie?
Anara
AnaraBella.com
Good review Marie. This is a hell of a fun movie that features twists that got better and better as the film went on. It’s crazy that horror films can be this fun and entertaining just by smart and witty writing. However, it won’t last for too long so we might as well enjoy it while Whedon and Goodard are around.
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