by Jesus Ibarra
Special coupon for Dinuba Platinum Theatre at the end of this review.
This Joss Whedon production has finally hit theaters, after being stuck in limbo due to MGM’s money woes, for a year. I was extremely excited to see Whedon and his collaborator writer and the film’s director Drew Goddard take on a horror movie after being burned out by so many sequels, remakes, reboot, reimaginings, and general gore fest that the horror genre has de-evolved into. Don’t get me wrong, I love horror movies from the ones that creep you out, to the ones that flat out scare you, to the more recent torture porn genre as its called, but man was this movie a nice refreshing take on the genre, mostly because it was a completely original idea through and through.
Although the movie plays with horror conventions and often going a bit meta with stereotypes we have seen over the years it doesn’t make it any less of a good horror movie. My only complaint is that it has been marketed as a horror film in all the trailers and posters, when really it’s a commentary on horror movies, with metaphors and motifs you often see with things associated with Joss Whedon’s work. Also speaking of the trailers, avoid seeing them if possible because they spoil a key moment in the movie with just one shot, which is extremely annoying.
But back to the horror part of the film, by the climax of the film when you finally get the entire picture, man does it get really bleak and sad, which I guess can be the true horror aspect. I am not going into any details about the film’s plot other than to say that five college kids go to a cabin where stuff goes down, but nothing is actually as it seems. That is all I’ll say because the movie’s plot is much like a puzzle, a bloody, gory, and sort of depressing, nevertheless enjoyable, puzzle. I will say that there are moments in the film that the audience and I began laughing because sometimes this movie went with the absurd and crazy, but ran with it.
So I’ll just comment on the rest of the stuff not involving plot, which I will say is fun and great, and really smart. I’ll start with my only complaint, there is a major plot hole that any good film buff will notice that will just bug you and drive you insane. It doesn’t derail the actual plot but just seems weird. I doubt though most people will notice it, but my being the OCD person I am couldn’t let it go.
With that out of the way, let me begin my praises if I hadn’t already, man was this an awesome fun movie.
It was a hard R horror movie that had great acting, solid directing, and amazing pacing. And when I say hard R, I’m talking beheadings, mailings’, stabbings, projectiles through throats, etc. And the great thing is that none of the hard R aspects like the brief nudity, violence, and cursing felt forced or felt inserted at the sacrifice of great writing and acting. As a horror film buff, and just a film buff in general, I urge you that if you are into these kind of movies you need to go watch this movie!
If you want to check out the trailer anyway–it can be found on the movie website.
The Cabin In The Woods is now playing at Dinuba Platinum Theatres 6. Showtimes can be found on their website.
Print this coupon and enjoy a special discount for Kings River Life readers only!
0 Comments