The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

I'm back. Not in a very good shape unfortunately. But sufficiently to maintain this blog on a survival line (I hope). And since I'm talking about survival + like I said last time, I come back with something that really deserves attention, despite a title, trailer and a first impression that do not suggest more than an average horror: "The Cabin in the Woods" :D .

My initial expectancies were like said before, and the movie was somewhere at the bottom of my "to see" queue. I had the luck though to stumble upon it in the closing evening of a festival where I didn't have the time to catch much else. This one however filled the space. What's it all about after all ... Well, the movie starts pretty much like a "typical teen horror where people wander in the wild & get slashed" but trust me on this .. it's much more original than whatever I've seen up 'til now in this category. I'm gonna try to limit the spoilers. We have two action plans: 1 - two guys + two girls who can be placed (well, probably) in the "hot" section + another guy who is a combination between Screech from "Saved by the Bell" (yeah I know, I'm old) and a joint loving hippie get into a summer trip somewhere to an isolated cabin ; 2 - something that looks like a secret branch of the US army with an underground HQ has the cabin under control and triggers an operation coordinated by two cynical guys targeting the "cheerful" group above. I'm gonna say just that the operation starts by attracting them in a cellar filled with objects like a sphere similar to the keys in "Hellraiser", a journal of a psycho family, etc. What's coming next you can see in the movie.

There are some aspects to point out. Firstly, "the hippie Screech" played in a brilliant manner by an unknown (at least for me) Fran Kranz, has an incredible well written part of the script. And considering that the script is generally way above than the usual horror average, the result already demands to be watched. The movie has a very good dose of black humor. So if you like the genre you should definitely not skip it. I laughed a lot, which doesn't happen very often. The idea itself is also something quite original, and even the end is a bit surprising on top of this (just a bit). I'd like to say that you also have something more deep in there, but after all the main line start-to-finish is just the fun = the perfect summer movie to see when you need something relaxing. There is blood in there (it's a horror after all), but again it's not exactly how it seems to be at the first sight. I've written already too much to give more info, but to do an overall characterization, as a feeling is a mix of light '90s horrors like "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" with a scent of "The Cube" trilogy. As a feeling .. about the rest, check it out ;)

Rating: 4 out of 5



( & remember, don't trust much the trailer :) what you need to get from there are the captions "You think you know the story ..." ;) )