The Cabin in the Woods

The Cabin in the Woods poses a problem for any film critic. When a ridiculously-enjoyable horror flick such as Cabin comes along, we naturally want to babble about its inventiveness, witty one-liners and genre-busting originality. But at the same time, we don't want to give the game away because Cabin's greatest strength is its rug-pulling twists and turns. It's a tricky one. 

But that's why critics invented the SPOILER ALERT. If you have faith in The Big Fairbanski gospel then stop reading now, watch the film raw and thank us later. However, if you need a little persuasion then read on. But don't say we didn't warn you...

SPOILER ALERT

Assuming by now that you have seen the poster, you would already have some idea that this is no ordinary hack-and-slash entry in the 'cabin in the woods' horror sub-genre. If the tongue-in-cheek title didn't give that away, then surely the Rubik's cube cabin and the tagline 'You think you know the story...' gave you this impression. And the poster is right. This is no ordinary 'cabin in the woods' film.

None of this is surprising when you look at the team putting this together. Drew Goddard is director and screenwriter, a man who previously wrote for Lost, Alias, Buffy and Cloverfield. Meanwhile, man-of-the-moment Joss Whedon is co-screenwriter and producer. Not only does this give you a script full of great characters, dark humour and fan-pleasing horror references but you also get the endless WTF moments that you have to come to expect from their earlier work.

As with Lost and Alias, a lot of the fun for the audience is spent trying to work out what is going on. Anyone who has seen the trailer, would have seen the eagle fly into the invisible forcefield and has no doubt figured out that there are puppet-masters behind the scenes. Is this some sort of Big Brother government experiment? Or a reality TV show like The Truman Show? Or are people paying to watch the violence like in Hostel? Then, just as you find yourself feeling confident in your theory - bam! - the film cuts to Japan. Goddard and Whedon keep you guessing until the end and, like Lost, this provides refreshing and addictive viewing.  But, unlike Lost, Cabin knows exactly where it is going. And rest assured, Cabin's destination is every bit as good as its journey.

In many ways, Cabin is a kindred spirit to that other five-star 2012 release, The Artist. After all, The Artist was a piece of silent cinema about silent cinema and equally Cabin is more than just a horror film: it is about horror films. Indeed, whilst all the horror motifs are present - the ominous redneck, the creepy basement, the horny fumble in the woods, the stupid decision-making ("Let's split up!") and the inevitable bloodshed - the film actually scrutinises the genre because each motif is purposefully engineered by the puppet-masters who knowingly manufacture the clichéd set-up. As with the Scream films, this self-awareness makes for clever, meta but ultimately fun viewing.

Also like Scream, there is a delicate but well-crafted balance between the parody and the horror. This is crucial considering there are essentially two stories running alongside each other: the bloodshed in the cabin and the matter-of-fact office mentality of the puppet-masters. However, both are given due consideration. You could easily expect the dry humour of the puppet-masters (Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford, both superb) to steal the show. After all, we should relate to them the most because, like us, they are essentially the audience watching the events unfold. But when Goddard cuts back to the cabin, you are immediately invested back in the horror - gory, claustrophobic, creepy - and sympathise with the teenagers. It is an incredible balancing act and a testament to both director and script that the butchery in the cabin is not trivial to the audience, in the same way that it is trivial for the puppet-masters.

Best of all, Goddard and Whedon's fan-boy geekiness is ever-present and their influence makes for a showcase of deliriously-entertaining moments both cabin-side and behind-the-scenes. On the cabin front, we have plenty of original ideas: the blonde snogs a stuffed wolf's-head, a one-way mirror leads to some awkward humour, an extendable bong is used as a last defence and cinema has a new iconic murder weapon in the form of a swinging bear-trap. Meanwhile, there is lots of fun cliché-inversion occurring with the puppet-masters who are simply spending another day at the office: pranking colleagues with speaker phone gags, collecting bets for the office sweepstake and drinking tequila at the office party. But all of this is done with a twist.

And then, when the two sides of the story collide... Well. Not even a SPOILER ALERT would give me enough jurisdiction to ruin that for you. 

Put it this way, the final twenty minutes might just be the most gloriously-rewarding climax to a film since The Matrix lobby scene. It is a horror fan's wet dream. It begins with a zooming-out shot so epic and full of visual treats that they could have ended the movie right there. But the film goes on and, boy, does it get messy. There is one particular oh-no-they-didn't moment which will stay with you long after you have left the multiplex. To say any more would ruin the surprise. But it is no coincidence that I mentioned the Matrix lobby scene.

The Cabin in the Woods is a five-star meta-horror experience. It is a love letter to the horror genre - part-parody, part-homage - written by a pair of fanboys with endless creativity and enough budget to craft one of the best cinema experiences of 2012. The marketing campaign has been understandably underwhelming, lest any major plot points are given away, so word-of-mouth is essential. And these are the words coming out of my mouth:

Go down to the woods today. You're sure of a big surprise.

★★★★★