Cabin In The Woods DVD Review 2

★★★★★

Spoiler Alert! These are two words that kill a review before the first sentence is finished. The rare occasion they aren’t received with hostility usually involves films that have been out for over 10 or 15 years. This is unfortunate considering nearly every trailer for films today sneaks in a spoiler that is not explicitly stated. Cabin in the Woods if affected more so right now than any other feature currently in the cinema. Every story, every trailer and every clip is a spoiler to the film’s entirety. But there is some good news, this review has zero spoilers, so do pay attention.

The set up is pretty straight forward: five college kids head out to a cabin in the woods to enjoy a nice retreat away from WiFi, video games and all the other excesses of middle/upper-class society. After dealing with a menacing gas station clerk who’s as filthy as the decrepit station he runs the group finally makes their way to the cabin.

Upon seeing the cabin it is easy to see where this film will be going. Taken nearly verbatim from Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead the shelter is a mimic of the old horror/comedy standby though without the menacing porch swing that knocks more than a backwoods zombie. Terror ensues as the jock, whore, fool, smarty and virgin search for a way out of this walking nightmare.

This is ultimately a very funny film. Look past the excessive gore and grotesque horrors and there is no denying this fact. Scenes are creatively set so the audience feels they are as much watching this insanity commence, as they are accessories to this absurdity. The stoner offers up life’s conundrums as he chain-smokes joints to feed his imaginative paranoia.

From the very beginning the familiar story told in a creative new way offers more to its audience than just the please of a day at the cinema. Cabin in the Woods holds a sort of mirror to the viewers who must look into themselves and ask what does this film say about me? More importantly, how is this film a reflection of today’s society? Anything more to mention falls in the category of spoiler and I already made a promise about that.