The Cabin in the Woods

Ever see a movie and love, love, love it, but couldn't figure out how to recommend it to people, because any attempt to explain why it's so great would also ruin the very surprises that make the movie awesome in the first place?

Well, if you're a movie buff, the answer is "of course" -- it happens all the time. Take The Cabin in the Woods.  This is a movie that starts out good, and by the time it is over, it has at least touched greatness.  How?  Can't explain. If I do, it'll ruin -- ah, but now I'm starting to repeat myself.

Okay, let me explain what little I can that doesn't give away any of the twists. There are basically two different stories going on in the movie, one of which is, or at least seems on the surface to be, the type of standard horror movie implied by the title. Everyone familiar with horror movies knows that cabins in the woods are unsafe places. There could be a serial killer roaming the woods, or a werewolf loose, or a cursed item in the basement, or zombies wandering about, or maybe the cabin itself is haunted. The Cabin in the Woods, unsurprisingly, presents five college friends who decide to vacation in the title location, unaware that death, suffering, and terror await. Unoriginal foreshadowing is provided by a redneck gas station owner, whose ominous but vague warnings to stay away from the cabin are easily overlooked due to his grotesque hygiene and antagonistic manner.

Meanwhile, in a seemingly unrelated storyline, middle-aged, white-collar office drones Gary and Steve report to work at a high-tech government facility. We see them go about their daily routine, and it all seems a million miles away in subject matter from the teenagers in the cabin. But soon we get our first clue that there is a connection, when Gary and Steve place a conference call with the gas station redneck. What in the heck could these three guys possibly have in common?

If you've managed to avoid spoilers from other sources, you'll never guess the connection, which is only revealed gradually. The first clues are provided almost immediately, but the final piece of the puzzle isn't put into place until the very end.

The Cabin in the Woods, despite its seemingly standard premise, is an immensely creative film, and I want to recommend it to everybody, but I have often wondered: Would non-horror fans enjoy it? It's an interesting question. You certainly don't have to be a horror fan to enjoy most of the scenes with Gary and Steve, whose mostly comical dialogue is expertly performed by Bradley Whitford (of The West Wing) and Richard Jenkins (of Six Feet Under) and written by Drew Goddard (who also directed) and Joss Whedon (who also produced). The storyline involving the teenagers in the woods works as a straight-forward slasher film, but for fans of the horror genre, Goddard and Whedon provide so much more, and I fear that many references will be lost on audience members who don't have at least a vague familiarity with horror movie conventions.

I'd say that for fans of either Jenkins or Whitford (or just well-written dialogue), at least half of this movie will be highly entertaining, and for horror fans, the other half will be a great thrill  ride and more. If you happen to fall under both categories, this is a must-see. Why? Can't explain. If I do -- ah, I think you get it by now.