‘The Cabin in the Woods’ is Something Truly Special (Review)

Written by: Daniel Hadley

Directed by: Drew Goddard

Cast: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford

It has been a long time since a mainstream horror release left me so exhilarated. What a glorious spectacle this movie turned out to be. Not since the days of From Dusk Till Dawn has such a majestic splattering of arterial spray and torn limbs graced the silver screen and not only that it also stands as a truly great genre bending homage stuffed masterpiece of modern horror cinema.

Now although this movie has been around for a while, I won’t delve too far into the plot for fear of ruining the fun for anyone who hasn’t had a chance see this gem. All I’ll say is five friends go for a break in an isolated cabin out in the woods and fall victim to an unspeakable terror. Sounds familiar right? Well, all I’ll say is brace yourself. Seriously, I mean it, you’ve never seen anything quite like the plot that unfolds in The Cabin in the Woods. Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon clearly wanted to make something unique and memorable and they more than succeeded.

I literally have nothing bad to say about this movie, and that’s rare for me. Although I’m not a hard man to please when it comes to horror I can normally find something that bugged me, not with this: everything is perfect. The writing is great, the acting is pitch perfect and the direction is spot on. Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hitchison and Fran Kranz do great playing the five friends looking for a good time out in the woods, but it is Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford who steal the show as the two white collar workers just trying to keep their management happy. I wish I could go into their characters more but to do so would reveal too much. Both of these guys are hilarious, they should have their own movie, seriously a ninety minute movie of these two just trying to get their jobs done would be amazing.

The CGI used towards the end of the movie isn’t top level but the movie was shelved for a few years for reasons I can’t possibly fathom, so I can forgive this. And when it comes to CGI, if it’s used for effects that can be so easily achieved with good old practical effects like blood or a beheading, it can be annoying, but when it’s used for giant spiders, robot scorpions and killer trees (all those things are in this movie, like I said you’ve never seen anything like it) I don’t have a problem with it.

Everything from Hellraiser to The Blob gets a reference in this movie and they’re worked so organically into the plot that each one put a huge nostalgia fuelled smile of fan boy glee across my face. When the worst thing I can say about a movie is that well…it ends, you know it’s something truly special.

Rating: 5/5