Let's take a minute to talk about horror movies. Overall, most people can say they at least have one horror movie they like. I, fortunately, have a few that I can say I absolutely love. The Exorcist is an absolute classic; Hellraiser is body horror gold; and, John Carpenter's apocalypse trilogy is one of the best trilogies of all time, in my opinion. So, what do we do with a film that really looks at the horror movie genre and decides to experiment with it? I don't mean like scream having aware characters who make the same mistakes anyway. I'm talking about one that really looks at the genre and decides to take it a step further to make you think about it. This week we're taking a look at 2011’s Cabin in the Woods. Complete disclosure here, this is going to be spoiler-filled. You have been warned from this point on there will be no restraint on spoilers. Again, you have been warned!
To start, I'm going to focus on the most interesting part of the movie. The film opens in the most non cabin in the woods horror movie location - a office break room. This is where we are introduced to the characters Sitterson and Hadley, played by Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford respectively. In my opinion, they are actually the two most interesting characters in the entire film. These two characters play as essentially the control room to a horror movie. They are the ones who program all the bumps that
happened in the night. They are as a puppet masters, as it were.
Throughout the film we see them going through the motions of this rather grim reality. That reality being that to appease some dark evil entity that lives below the Earth's surface. The entity Is slumbering waiting for the moment to rise up and destroy the world as we know it. The entity is, for all intents and purposes, a Lovecraftian horror that needs to be appeased with sacrifices or else it will destroy the world. This is fascinating to me because it's not the typical cultist persona you see in, for lack of a better word, antagonists. These two white collar guys are doing a job that is focused around saving the from a crazy elder god. The are not some crazy religious fanatics trying to rule the world with the power of an eldritch horror, objectively they are the good guys. In fact we see that other countries are doing this this same thing, to it's not just America. Every country has some organization that is working to make sure that at least one of these groups has to succeed. We see that if all of these groups fail, the world ends. So essentially our “villains” are people trying to make sure the world isn’t consumed by an Eldritch horror.
happened in the night. They are as a puppet masters, as it were.
This is where the horror tropes come into play. There's the idea that characters in a horror movie fill an archetype. We all have seen them. The jock who is overly aggressive and a bit of a meathead. The flirty girl who almost always hooks up with the jock. The nerd or geek who is super logical and wicked smart. The class clown who is almost always smokes pot. Lastly, is the final girl, almost always is a virgin and is the point of view character throughout the majority of the film. Now comes the twist, the reason why these archetypes exist is so they may die. The girl who is overly promiscuous has to die first, this lending itself to the popular trope that you have sex in a horror movie you will die.
After that, all deaths can happen in any order, but the Athlete, the Fool, and The Scholar all must die! The only one that's an optional death is the virgin archetype, who could die, but it has to be the last one as she must witness the deaths of the others. This to me is an interesting way to explain the whole final girl trope that is found in most horror movies.
That's the basic premise of the film and it is really interesting to see it all play out. I found it to be really kind of a cool way to think about horror films, and it was an interesting spin on the horror genre. It made me think on the other horror movies I've watched. If they were real would the world still be around based on the final result? For a decent amount of them the answer is yes. Yeah we would be okay no eldritch horror come up and destroy the world after that, so job well done to those teams I suppose.. However, it also raises a pretty big debate. Is the world worth saving if that is what it takes to save it? The film stands by its answer to that question very firmly, but the final conclusion reached by the film is actually one that me and my friends actually don’t fully agree with. In fact, me and my best friend will call him “Wheat” came to the conclusion that if it came down to it and we were faced with the final confrontation of the film, we know the decision we would make.
I feel like I should be clear on this point. I am about to spoil the ending of Cabin in The Woods so if you want stop reading, go ahead and skip the last paragraph for my final thoughts. At the end of the movie, there are currently two survivors and they have gone through hell. Countless monsters are loose in the facility designed to orchestrate the ritual and the place is in shambles. The last survivors are the Fool and the Virgin. They have just been told that in a few moments the world will completely and utterly end with the rising of this Eldritch Horror. Like we're not talking all the world's just messed up for a while this is the systematic end of human life no one is going to be spared that's, it curtains on Humanity. Unless the Fool dies before the time is up. The Fool is basically saying we should let it end if this is what it takes to survive and the Virgin has a gun. It is clear the Virgin is thinking about it and almost kills the Fool it if not for a werewolf that bites her and causes a scuffle resulting and the ultimate decision to not go through with it. As the last of the facility staff is killed off, the Virgin and the Fool share of blunt at the world as the great evil rises.
This is where Wheat and I came to the agreement, If we were the last two, and either of us had the gun and we're told to pop the other to save all of human existence my one request is it should be quick. If he's the one with the gun don't, botch it, make it clean. To which he agreed where if he was in the other position. Perhaps that's a little bit morbid, and perhaps that is a little dark, but if it's the whole world on the line, I'd rather be the one going out than selfishly smoking pot to end the world. I completely understand the idea that we need to respect the sanctity of human life, but I also feel that perhaps I may have a little Vulcan in me as the idea that the needs of the many outweighs the needs of the one. In short yeah I do willing to take a bullet for the entire world's population. It would absolutely suck to be the Virgin in that situation though. Having to put down a friend of yours to save the world after you’ve already seen so many friends die. I think that is a very hard position to sit in, because to be the one who has to live with everything afterwards sounds like a nightmare. Wheat and I both agreed though, That if it's for the entire world yeah we'd do the tough thing. We’d sure make sure everybody knew what was sacrificed to keep them alive though! No way we would let this go into the dark, not after everything. We would make certain that everyone would know what it took to make sure their hides were saved. Perhaps that's where the problem lies. How would the world react to the situation would the world want to continue knowing that this is what took? It's interesting food for thought to say the least.
Overall Cabin in the Woods is a fantastic horror film that is thought provoking. It's a fun ride that really plays with the horror genre and has some genuinely funny moments. I wouldn't necessarily qualify it as scary, except for the situations when the characters put themselves in in it gets really kind of unnerving. The performances by all involved are actually really great. t's a solid horror movie to watch round the Halloween time. It is a great one to have a discussion on afterwards with your friends. Overall, I'd give this film and 8 out of 10. If you enjoyed this short little piece, stay tuned for more blogs to come fingers crossed with the new year it can become a more regular thing but in the meantime pull up a chair and relax and enjoy The Wanderer’s corner.
