‘Cabin’ is more than a typical horror film

For the past couple of years, the horror… “The Cabin in the Woods”

Director: Drew Goddard

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Kristen Connolly, Bradley Whitford

Grade: A

For the past couple of years, the horror movie formula has become almost laughingly standard. Take a couple of good-looking kids, isolate them in the woods, a foreign country or a creepy old house, and let the zombies, ghosts or hillbilly serial killers do the rest. “The Cabin in the Woods,” however, takes all those stale elements and turns them into something new.

What makes “The Cabin in the Woods” so interesting is that it reinforces all the Hollywood horror tropes while simultaneously tearing them down. Co-written by Joss Whedon (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) and frequent collaborator Drew Goddard, who also directed the film, the movie walks the line between parody and actual horror, something long-time Whedonites have come to expect.

Whedon refers to the film as a “loving hate letter” to the horror genre. He and Goddard are attempting to revitalize the genre from within. They took the traditions and archetypes established over the past half-century, which range from Hitchcockian suspense and ’80s-style slasher flicks to the torture porns of the new millennium, and created something fantastically original. It’s both a homage and a critique.

“The Cabin in the Woods” begins with five friends on their way to a relaxing weekend in a remote cabin. It would hardly be a spoiler to say that as the movie unfolds, their vacation turns unanticipatedly frightening.

The main characters fill certain expected roles in a horror film. The dumb blonde, the jock, the burnout, the nerd and the good girl all have a place in “The Cabin in the Woods.” But from the beginning, they’re set up as something more. Whedon and Goddard created characters who fit the archetypes of horror movies from the past but aren’t boring or stereotypical. In fact, they’re likeable, and even relatable.

The film is classically suspenseful, but this does not make it annoying. From the opening shot, the audience learns that there’s something behind every “horror” element, that the five main characters are being manipulated. But throughout the film, viewers also become aware that there’s something else at work, something that motivates the “villains” to torment the kids. It creates an interesting dichotomy; viewers want everyone to survive but also realize that they can’t.

“The Cabin in the Woods” is not very scary, a huge fault in a film for true horror fans. It’s still thrilling but trades genuine horror for shock and awe toward the end of the movie. For all of the obvious hints at the driving force behind the movie, its last half hour is full of surprises that will leave audiences satisfyingly shocked.

What really pushes “The Cabin in the Woods” to great levels are the Whedon touches sprinkled throughout. Few can combine terror and humor quite as well as he, and the movie is downright funny, despite the scary elements.

But don’t think “The Cabin in the Woods” is just another take on the “Scary Movie” franchise. The humor is sharp, almost snarky, but it doesn’t sacrifice genuine scares for laughs. It’s clear that Whedon is in his element. The movie’s cast full of Whedon all-stars such as Amy Acker, Tom Lenk and Fran Kranz helps. “The Cabin in the Woods” is a labor of love for both Goddard and Whedon, from the tight script and attention to detail to thrilling scene after thrilling scene.

All of these components seem like a lot to include. The movie gets the audience thinking about horror on a meta level, while it simultaneously works as a horror movie. Every twist and element serves both to drive the plot and stimulate the audience’s thinking.

Whether you’re a die-hard horror fan or you’ve only ever heard about the genre, you’ll enjoy “The Cabin in the Woods.”