SPOILERS ABOUND
Directed by: Drew Goddard
Written by: Drew Goddard & Joss Whedon
Produced by: Joss Whedon
Starring: Kristen Connolly, Bradley Whitford, Fran Kranz, Chris Hemsworth, and Richard Jenkins
Edited by: Lisa Lassek
Cinematography by: Peter Deming
In the pantheon of great horror films, all of its members operate on two sides of an aisle. There are those that are classically campy but allow us to feel all that we love in horror: A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, and Bride of Frankenstein. Then there are the horror films that also operate as great films outside the genre: The Shining, The Exorcist, and Night of the Living Dead. Obviously, the other side has its campy moments and both have their artistic qualities, but they are nonetheless on a certain side of the great hall of the Horror genre when defined. Yet as with anything that has two sides, there will always be those in the middle, that collect and combine the two. In the middle of the Conservatives and the Liberals rests the Moderates. The films that sit in the middle of the Horror aisle are rare, but they are there, and they are exceedingly different. Think of Alien (which crosses into science fiction as well), Scream, and Psycho.
Too many times it's said that the horror genre is dead, that it has fallen by the wayside to repetition, "torture porn", and debilitating formula. I beg that when you deeply examine the genre, it is often one of the most rewarding. Few other genres, save the obvious drama and sci-fi, show the evolution of film better. We are at a curious time in horror cinema, where our desensitization and lack of personalization has caused films where women are mutilated and people's faces are glued to asses to become popular and monetary successes.
Drew Goddard's new film, The Cabin in the Woods, offers us a respite for this malaise in the genre while simultaneously giving us some of its best ingredients. The cast presented, notably Chris Hemsworth's Jock and Fran Kranz's Fool, give their best, and it is more than enough. Bradley Whitofr and Richard Jenkins, as the employees of the organization, are in top form. Whitford may be playing West Wing icon Josh Lyman, but it works here nonetheless. The characters don't drive the film here, though, the story does, without a doubt. And what a story it is. A secret organization, of which the government may be involved in, protects the world by sacrificing five youths in a very particular way to atone the Ancient Ones beneath. In true Whedon form, it tapes together a genre with all the know how of someone who loves it.
This story offer us the rare chance of asking ourselves questions about why exactly we watch horror films. Why is it we like to see people walk down dark hallways where we know almost certainly that they will meet a terrible, and sometimes gruesome, end? Why do we seek out the "virgin" girl to root for and like seeing the "whore" and the "jock" go out as horrible as possible? In many ways, we are the Ancient ones underneath that must see things this way to enjoy ourselves. The film prods us on that matter, letting our fanboy sensibilities get every horror villain ever in one scene, but at what price? The end of the world. The film does a near masterful job at raising the questions and, as has been said numerous times better, deconstructing the genre. Yet I agree with what Landon Palmer said over at Film School Rejects about how it tears down the walls of the horror genre, but builds nothing back up in its stead. Many times of late we've gotten send-ups of the genre, but none comes as close as this one to creating new ground. It just doesn't follow through.
This isn't to say the film fails entirely on its promise, though. It is richly deserved of praise for its genuine hilarity and perfect pacing. Although, with a horror film I do expect to have some scares, and I must say, they are few and far between here. Questions are left unanswered, but they don't operate as eerie mysteries, just confusing points. I do applaud Goddard and Whedon for doing something no one was doing. Yet, since the film was made years ago, it almost feels less relevant, as horror has moved on to cheap scares at the hands of video cameras held by unassuming trespassers and twenty-somethings. The film operates two-fold, as something to be analyzed as a messy critique on the genre, and just an entertaining nod to the horror genre. It pastiches the usual in a darkly comic tone.
Whether or not Cabin is a "game changer" is yet to be seen (though unlikely), but one thing is for certain: it has sparked all the right conversations and is making people want better horror films. It is criticizing us, in the friendliest of ways, for wanting to watch mutilations that have no reason for the past decade. A "game changer" ? No. A "game starter"? Probably so. Either way, Goddard's film has secured its place in the pantheon, right in the middle.
Grade: B
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