The Cabin in the Woods

Joss Whedon is one of the big names in the Hollywood industry, that still has a fan base to this day. Being the creator of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Angel," and the short lived show "Firefly." He's also worked on certain films in the past too. He's directed and written for his movie "Serinity," written for the film "Speed," and he also wrote for the first "Toy Story." Not to mention, he's co-writing and directing "The Avengers," so that's a big one to look forward to. However, sometimes the films he writes for can also be re-written by talentless hacks, and turned into piles of unappealing trash. "Alien Resurrection," "Titan A.E." and "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" were bad, because the studios didn't want to go with what Whedon originally had intended, and decided to make it something that doesn't qualify to be worth it's budget.

Today, we now look at another film, co-written and produced by Joss Whedon, simply known as "The Cabin in the Woods."

The film's plot is about these five teenagers named Dana, Curt, Jules, Marty, and Holden, who head out of town to spend the weekend in a cabin, formerly owned by Curt's cousin. Little do they know, that the perimiter they've entered is under the complete control of a industrial facility, that has certain people murdered. Soon enough, they find the cellar of the cabin, and find very interesting items there. Whichever item is activated first, will unleash whatever certain creature(s) it responds to. Soon, it's all about survival, and what's expected to come of these teens. The trailers depicted it to be like the basic slasher film, only this time it's the corporate media or something like that with the five cliched characters, and I quote, the jock, the fool, the scholar, the whore, and the virgin. However, this film is a very unique puzzle, and really does lead one to know what's the reasoning behind this facility and why they do this. And it isn't just this one area, it's done all around the world. This film also had elements to Joss Whedon's tv series, "Angel," and it does it's job well. It does feel like a slasher movie like "Friday the 13th" and "Halloween," but since it's a Joss Whedon production, it's done in a different way.

The cast did a very good job in the film, I'll give it that. The main five are what you expect, but a few have some quality to it. Dana, played by Kristen Connolly, was done pretty straight forward, like most female leads in a slasher film, so it's nothing too special. Anna Hutchison as Jules was pretty much the one who is one you care about the least, so nothing to it. Same can be said for Holden, played by Jesse Williams. I didn't really care much for him or Hutchison, and that's what you get in most horror movies. You get at least one or two characters who you just don't give a damn about. Sigourney Weaver has an appearance in the movie, as the director of this whole thing. When she appears in the movie, she explains everything, but it does make you wonder how it's all possible. Now I'm not going to say what it is, because I want you to see the movie. The facility men, played by Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford, gave pretty good performances. Whenever the film would cut to these guys, it cut the tension down, bringing you back to that the woods are controlled by these guys. It does make for some funny scenes and it was clearly the part of the movie you wanted to see the most. I would prefer that, if it wasn't for two characters that stole the movie. One of them, being Marty, the fool who's a complete pot-head. You think he'd be the first to die, with him being a complete imbecile...but how he's done is just great! He's funny and, unlike other characters like this, he's actually USEFUL! For once, a complete stoner is useful in a horror film. The other character I enjoyed, was Chris Hemsworth as Curt. You know that the jock is another character that dies, but Hemsworth took this character and made him really fun to watch. He may be a stereotypical character, with a few minor changes, but it's fun for the view to watch.

The film was directed and co-written by Drew Goddard, who has worked with Joss Whedon in the past before, being a writer for "Angel" and "Buffy", but also being a writer for J.J. Abrams popular show, "Lost." What he did with this film was simply brilliant and it really does take certain talent like this to make a good movie. And a good horror film at that.

Overall, "The Cabin in the Woods" is one film that I'll certainly not be forgetting for a while. It's dark, it's creative, and does things you wouldn't expect in a horror film. It definitley has that Joss Whedon vibe that most have known over the years. If you're a fan of Whedon's work, I don't see any reason not to see this.

Rating: 4.5/5
9/10