The film starts with two seemingly disparate story lines: a pair of scientists, Sitterson (Richard Jenkins) and Hadley (Bradley Whiteford), run a strange surveillance operation from an ultra-modern facility. At the same time, a group of five teens embark on a road trip to the titular cabin in the woods, which is haunted with the undead. Director Goddard not only ties up the two seemingly incompatible strands of narrative, but does so with panache, satire, a bestiary of monsters and a killer script.
The teens featured in the movie seem cardboard-thin at first: obligatory jock Curt (Chris Hemsworth), stoner pothead Marty (Fran Kranz), smart boy Holden (Jesse Williams), slutty girl Jules (Anna Hutchinson) and virginal counterpart Dana (Kristen Connolly). As the film progresses, however, the reasons for their seemingly stereotypical behavior is soon uncovered. We`re not going to spoil it for you; suffice to say that Curt has a sociology degree, but starts acting more and more like a typical lunkhead as the film progresses.
Stylistically, the film has an Evil Dead vibe, effectively mixing comedy and horror into a deliciously ambitious concoction, and wrapped up in some stellar visual effects. It`s probably also the first horror movie to feature an extendable bong as a weapon. That prop alone is probably worth the price of entry.
An astonishing feat of meta-narrative story telling, The Cabin In The Woods is a horror film that packs as many laughs as it does spine-tingling scares, as well as a canny tribute to the genre.
Summary: Like Inception with killer unicorns and the undead. We have to go deeper.
Rating: 4/5 stars
Raphael Lim