From my website: For this review, we at Shiny Potato thought we would give you two reviews, from the perspectives of both a horror fan and a non-horror fan.
David: Having not seen a horror film in years, I was looking forward to seeing The Cabin in the Woods. I had heard good things about it, but considering Halloween (which I thought was awful!) is described as classic, I went with an open mind, ignoring the opinions that I had read.
As can be seen in the trailer, the film appears to be something like a gruesome, murdery Truman Show created by Drew Goddard, and Joss Whedon, who everyone must know from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Five teens set out for a vacation in, you guessed it, a cabin in the woods. Kristen Connolly plays main character Dana, a quiet naïve girl, with friend Jules (Anna Hutchison), Thor star Chris Hemsworth as Jules’ boyfriend Holden, and pot-smoking Marty (Fran Kranz). Not long after arriving, they settle in, and soon find out their vacation isn’t going to be the relaxing experience they thought it would be!
At around one and half hours, it isn’t the longest of films, but as the story isn’t usually the strong point in horror films, it seems long enough to fit in plenty of action, frights, and surprises.
When the credits rolled, my initial thought was “What the hell was that?” but I really enjoyed it. When we look back, it might not be put in the same group of ‘classics’ as films like Halloween, but because of its entertainment value, I think The Cabin in the Woods is a class above!
David’s Shiny Potato Rating: 4/5
James: I’m the complete opposite from David – I’m a huge horror movie fan, yet I wasn’t desperate to see this film based on the trailer. However I saw that Joss Whedon has co-written the script with Drew Goddard (“Cloverfield”), and so I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt, seen as Mr Whedon can do no wrong.
Wow! is all I can say. This film entertained me from start to finish. I absolutely loved it. Imagine “Scream”, “The Truman Show”, and every horror film set in a cabin in the woods were all thrown into a blender – what you get is “The Cabin in the Woods”. Like Scream, it has a sense of self awareness, but the difference being the characters don’t constantly compare their situation to a movie. In fact they are quite dumb, clichéd characters – but that’s the whole point. They all fit into horror movie archetypes – the stoner, the athlete, the virgin, etc. You’ve seen these characters before in a hundred other movies, yet it feels different here. Perhaps its because they really aren’t the main set of characters – not wanting to spoil anything, but there’s a whole other scenario happening simultaneously to the ‘cabin’ story, and the film is genius in how it jumps back and forth between the two.
And don’t expect to have the film figured out by the trailer – in true Whedon style, the film throws a curve ball against how you imagine the story is going to go. The final act is utter ridiculous, and will make or break the film for you. I won’t lie, it may turn a number of you off. I however thought it was fantastic, and really made the movie for me. It reminded me of 2009′s brilliant “Drag Me To Hell” – that film just felt like a Sam Raimi film, and “Cabin” really feels like a Joss Whedon movie.
I think the more horror films you’ve seen, the more you will appreciate this movie. It constantly winks at the audience, thought not so much to be distracting. It also ties in the whole horror movie universe, and actually gives legit reasons for the clichés and trappings of the genre. If you’re at all a horror film, you owe it to yourself to go see this movie.
Plus, it's got a hell of a cameo at the end.
James’ Shiny Potato Rating: 5/5