The Cabin in the Woods

I went to see The Cabin in the Woods with my housemate this evening as we're both huge Joss Whedon fans. I've been looking forward to this film for so long; the release date had just kept being pushed further and further back, so I was so excited when I heard that it was finally coming out.


There were so many things that had me excited before actually seeing it. Firstly and foremost: it was the creation of Joss Whedon. What is there not to love just about that? I think the guy is a genius and would see everything that he's involved with for the sole reason that he created it. I'm really looking forward to Avengers and Much Ado About Nothing especially, this summer.

Second: the cast. In true Whedon fashion, Joss has called together a (much smaller than usual) group of actors that he's worked with before to work on this. There's Fran Kranz who plays Marty, who I think is a very similar character to Topher on Dollhouse; Amy Acker who plays Lin who, again, is quite similar to her character on Dollhouse (also stars in Angel) and Andrew from Buffy plays Ronald the intern has a small part. I can't think of any other Whedon-alums at the moment, but I have the feeling I'm missing someone big. As for the rest of the cast, I only really know Chris Hemsworth who plays Curt (but is more widely known as Thor). Man, is Chris Hemsworth hot. I love him.

Third: the trailer was awesome and built up so much suspense/excitement for the film. It seems like your average trope-filled horror story, but there's hints of other, deeper secrets and plots working behind the scenes and running the show.

I'm not going to really talk about much about the film itself because there's not really very much you can say without spoilering it, and I've decided that I don't want to do that. This is definitely a film that you want to go and see for yourself; my explanation isn't going to do it justice at all and any spoiler will just take the fun out of seeing the action play out before you.

I'm not a horror-film kind of girl. As with crime novels, I don't really watch horror because I find that there are things that I'd rather watch. With the right film, I can imagine myself being scared shitless, which is probably why I tend to steer clear. Before watching, I said to my housemate that I hoped the film would be 1) scary and 2) funny. The second was fulfilled well (this is Joss Whedon after all) though could have been more of it; the first not so much.

Don't get me wrong: there were plenty of times when I jumped, gasped and just generally had my heart pounding away in my throat with what was going on. I was scared for the characters and some of  the things that you see are genuinely disgusting, but this kind of fear was more of a reaction to what I was seeing rather than a fear for myself. Does that make sense? Maybe not, but what I'm trying to say is that I'm not scared now. The film will have you gripping the edge of your seat, but it's not the kind of film that's going to have you looking over your shoulder when you're walking down the street, or lying awake at night for fear of things coming to get you in your sleep. Having said that, there's no way that I'm ever going to be going away for a weekend in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Ever.

The concept itself is pretty ... out-there. After the credits had rolled and we were on our way home, there was quite a while where I was feeling pretty shell-shocked at this craziness that Joss had thrown at us. I love it and in my opinion, it's trademark Whedon in its originality, but it's just a little hard to grasp because of its out-there-ness. There are some hints in the trailer and throughout the beginning of the film which does mean that it kind of spoils the overall plot for you, the viewer, because you have this knowledge that the characters don't, but I didn't mind so much. Despite having this 'extra' knowledge as compared to the 'victims', it still didn't make it easier to get my brain to accept it.

As you do with much of Joss' work, you ask yourself 'Could this be happening in the world, and we just don't know about it?' I'd be pretty damn scared if this was. I think I would just rather treasure my ignorance and hope never to get near such things/events/institutions. Actually, the idea of this happening in the real world is pretty scary (despite it's impossibility (so I say)) and I can only fervently hope that it doesn't. And also that I'm going to sleep like a baby.