Film Review: THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
By Gabrielle Bondi, The Young Folks
This is going to be a short review, if even a real review at all. Not because I don’t have a lot to say about the upcoming horror film, The Cabin in the Woods, I have a ton to say. I just don’t want to say it because I prefer not to ruin the film for you. Yes, you know that sometimes I do spoiler warnings and such, but in this case, I really don’t want anyone to know or be tempted to read spoilers on this movie because The Cabin in the Woods is the best horror film to come out in years. In my opinion, it is truly best watched when you don’t know a single thing about the story.
If you haven’t been keeping up with The Cabin in the Woods or even know about some of the buzz surrounding it, here’s a rundown. The film was shot about three years ago for MGM. Drew Goddard (Cloverfield) directed and co-wrote the film with Joss Whedon (Do I even need to explain who Joss Whedon is?). It’s finally being released on the big screen next week. To many, a long-delayed distribution doesn’t look good. It’s easy to assume that no studio liked the movie enough to distribute. Well, that’s exactly not the case. Unfortunately, MGM went through some major financial troubles and The Cabin in the Woodswas one of many movies (including a 007 film) to lose distribution. It took a while for them to find a home, but luckily Lionsgate finally picked them up. By that time, the mostly unknown cast had a big star amongst them: Chris Hemsworth (Thor). The rest of the cast includes Kristen Connolly, Amy Acker, Jesse Williams, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins.
The delayed distribution also had me worried, but since the movie officially debuted at SXSW last month, the buzz has been insanely positive for it. And I found myself more than curious to see this movie. If you know me, that is very out-of-character. I don’t like horror movies, in particular the recent ones. I don’t like being scared by mindless slasher-movies or whatever. I had no idea what was in store for me with The Cabin in the Woods. I decided to grow up, get over my horror movie aversion, and see what everyone was raving about, and I’m so happy I did. The Cabin in the Woods is brilliant. It’s smart, entertaining, and a definite must-see for horror film fans. It’s so refreshing compared to the onslaught of mostly mediocre horror movies to come out in the past few years. Really, the whole point of this post was just so I can say this one thing: Go see The Cabin in the Woods.
The Cabin in the Woods comes out Friday, April 13th. (Friday the 13th, how clever.)
