I love the works of Joss Whedon. Buffy
was one of the first shows I got into and started collecting on VHS
(remember when that was a thing?), and it lead to Angel, my absolute
all time favourite TV show. I still hope for a Firefly return, I
eagerly await the release of Dollhouse Season 2 down here (speaking
of DVD's, I really need a copy of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog) and
The Avengers was a knock-out.
So naturally I was excited for The
Cabin In The Woods. Before I even knew he was involved, I was
intrigued. When I found out he was co-writing and producing, my
response was basically “SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!”
But does it live up to expectations or
have I put too much faith into this movie?
Dana (Kristen Connolly), Curt (Chris
Hemsworth), Jules (Anna Hutchison), Marty (Fran Kranz) and Holden
(Jesse Williams) are college students who go to a remote cabin in the
woods for some vacation time. What they didn't count on was being the
focus of an operation, completely unknown to them, in which they are
expected to die.
Normally, I post things here and there
to talk about a movie's ending, with the spoiler tag and such. But
even though it's mentioned heavily on its own TVTropes page (Hell,
the page is split into “Safe Tropes”, which are the Tropes used
but you have to highlight the blank sections for the spoilers, and
“Spoiler Tropes”, which just outright tell you what direction the
ending is heading for), I will not spoil the ending or even bring it
up, except for this one remark I want to make: it is the best ending
for a horror movie I've seen since Drag Me To Hell (and on the
subject of that movie, I freaking love it).
But I guess I may have spoiled how I
feel about this movie a little soon. Yes, I love this film. Some of
that MAY be due to the fact that Joss is involved. OK, a lot of it,
because of the concept and writing. But nevertheless, this is a
fantastic horror movie.
But here's the thing: while the acting
is great, what I remember most is the concept itself, and how it's
handled. This movie might as well be called “We Take Standard
Horror Archetypes And Play Around With Them”.
For example, despite the five being set
up as stereotypes, they exhibit traits that don't keep them pegged
down in their pre-determined roles. Curt is set up to the your
average jerk jock, aggressive and stupid. However, the character is
well-meaning, friendly and smart. You'd only say he's the jerk jock
because we've seen that character type for so long, we've come to
expect it.
The movie impressed me early on with a
scene in which Dana is undressing in one room, and Holden is watching
briefly through a two-way mirror (which Dana does not know, she
thinks it's an ordinary mirror), before letting her know he can see
her. Now, he could have just kept on watching and made faces like he
was getting aroused, but he did the gentlemanly thing. That makes him
awesome and and he's easily my favourite character because of his
chivalry.
Just because the acting isn't what I
loved about the movie doesn't mean the film is slack with that
aspect. Chris Hemsworth continues to be awesome (or should that be
“begins his awesome”, since this was filmed in 2009), Fran Kranz
brings the funny in, and hey, it has Amy Acker, what more do you
want? Well, actually, I do know one little thing I want: more Tom
Lenk! Seriously, if I had one complaint, it would be he needed a
bigger part!
Thematically, the film runs with the
idea of society forcing us into roles and labels (something the
operators of the experiment count on) but sometimes, we rebel. And
what makes it even more brilliant is that they choose this particular
time to assert their independence when they are being relied upon to
fall INTO their pre-assigned roles, for the sake of... well, not
revealing that here, but suffice it to say, there is a lot of table
turning here.
It's also a bit of a jab to the
audience, who come expecting slaughter and gore, like the characters
are gladiators in a Colosseum and we are the spectators cheering for
the lions to come out.
Now, I do love me some Saw-style films,
but for a few different reasons, not the whole “BLOOOOOOD! GIVE ME
MOAR BLOOOOOD!” sense. I love horror movies for the atmosphere, the
idea that things could change at a moment's notice, and that almost
no one is safe anymore. Of course, bad horror films will still fall
into a formula, and from there, the only thing it can coast on is how
cool the villain is/the kills are.
The Cabin In The Woods instead offers
to challenge our perceptions of not just the roles of society and the
stereotypes we place on people, but on the way horror conducts itself
these days. In this movie, the characters get treated with respect,
and not like cattle sent off to die. The experiment operators are us,
and we are the experiment operators.
Joss has always had a knack for
creating three dimensional characters that keep surprising us, and
this is no different. He and co-writer Drew Goddard (who also
directed, so let's be clear about that, since a lot of people think
Joss himself directed it) have done wonders in making us care about
what happens to the people in this movie, and the movie is all the
stronger for it.
An easy 4.5 and an outstanding film not
just for horror, not just for Joss' career, but for 2012 films. I
never got the chance to experience it in the cinema, but I'm glad I
own the DVD.
And with that, I'm down to my last five
films of the year. Now to pick which is next.
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