The Cabin in the Woods

When I started to watch this movie I had no clue where it was going.  It starts in something that looks like a secret corporate or government-run facility with important people in lab coats talking about competing with some unknown product of Japan.

Then, in a completely unrelated change of scene we meet the characters we are to follow into this cabin in the woods.  I thought to myself: "Oh god, not another movie like Prom Night, with pretty people going off to have fun...then all dying..."  They set out on a long voyage down dirt roads where their GPS no longer works and are warned not to go to this cabin by a wild-eyed, red-neck gas station owner.  They make it to the cabin and are still slightly put-off by the warning they received, yet still get ready to spend their weekend out in the middle of nowhere.

It is at this point that the two plots start to come together as we see the campers on television screens in the facility we initially saw.  All of a sudden, these "scientists" of sorts start talking about how they dosed the token blonde actress' hair dye with a substance to dumb her down.  The film seems to be a documentation of a controlled experiment, in which they are medicating the characters and watching what happens, but it is actually far worse. 

The campers are shocked when the basement door (hidden in the floor, of course) flies open.  For some reason, they decide, rather than just shutting the creepy door, that they should go into the basement and investigate.  (That's their first mistake.)

We watch as they pick up what they believe to be the old belongings of the previous owners of the cabin, and we are brought back to the facility where the campers are being watched on-screen.  We see nearly fifty people in lab coats making bets on something, and then there is a close-up of a whiteboard, riddled with various monsters that exist in nightmares and spooky stories, with tally marks beside each name. 

Then the campers decide that it's a wonderful idea to start reading a diary which, in turn, causes zombies to rise from the ground. 

It is here that I cannot tell you more without ruining the whole movie for you.  What I will tell you is that the film uses this excellent idea to give rise to all the trouble that ensues: They are haunted not by creatures that come from nightmares, but by the creatures that nightmares come from. 




Overall, the film had an interesting idea, many people loved it.  (It wasn't my cup of tea...however, there is an excellent plot twist or two at the end and a completely awesome and unexpected appearance of a star that really wraps up the movie.)

(For more information on this film, please visit IMDb: The Cabin in the Woods)

Thank you for reading!