The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin, where they get more than they bargained for, discovering the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

Director:

Drew Goddard

Writers:

Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard

Stars:

Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison

20 wins & 33 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kristen Connolly	...	Dana
Chris Hemsworth	...	Curt
Anna Hutchison	...	Jules
Fran Kranz	...	Marty
Jesse Williams	...	Holden
Richard Jenkins	...	Sitterson
Bradley Whitford	...	Hadley
Brian White	...	Truman
Amy Acker	...	Lin
Tim DeZarn	...	Mordecai
Tom Lenk	...	Ronald The Intern
Dan Payne	...	Mathew Buckner
Jodelle Ferland	...	Patience Buckner
Dan Shea	...	Father Buckner
Maya Massar	...	Mother Buckner

Storyline

Five teenagers head off for a weekend at a secluded cabin in the woods. They arrive to find they are quite isolated with no means of communicating with the outside world. When the cellar door flings itself open, they of course go down to investigate. They find an odd assortment of relics and curios, but when one of the women, Dana, reads from a book, she awakens a family of deadly zombie killers. However, there's far more going on than meets the eye.

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Plot Keywords:

cabin in the woods | dark humor | lovecraftian | zombie child | surrealism | 

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Taglines:

We work with what we have.

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody horror violence and gore, language, drug use and some sexuality/nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese

Release Date:

13 April 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

La cabaña del terror

Filming Locations:

British Columbia Institute of Technology - Aerospace Technology Campus, Vancouver International Airport, 3800 Cessna Drive, Richmond, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,743,614, 15 April 2012, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$42,073,277

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$70,768,144

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate, Mutant Enemy, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS Dolby Surround 7.1

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.40 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Fran Kranz received extensive prop and behavior training in order to capture the stoner persona of Marty. He received a two-hour joint rolling session and a separate bong lighting session from expert consultants. In addition to the famous travel-mug bong, a number of more subtle marijuana paraphernalia appear in the film. These include Marty's stash, his secret stash, a smaller pipe, a 'tulip-joint', and a joint kept in the pocket of his pants. The prop crew even designed the film's own brand of rolling papers, 'Smiling Buddha' papers.

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Goofs

The downstairs assumes that Marty is killed by Judah Buckner. However, an earlier shot shows that the downstairs is monitoring everybody's vitals, so they should have known that Marty survived the attack.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Hadley: It's... hormonal. Yeah, I don't... usually fall back on, you know, it's-it's women's issues, but...
Sitterson: But child-proofed how? Gates and stuff?
Hadley: Dude, she did the drawers. We don't even know if this whole fertility thing's gonna work. She screwed in these little jobbies where you can't even open the drawers.
Sitterson: At all?
Hadley: No. They open, you know, like an inch, then you gotta dig your finger in. I mean, it's a nightmare.
Sitterson: I guess sooner or later...
Hadley: Yeah, well, a *lot* later. She did the *upper*...
[...]

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Connections

References Anaconda (1997)

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Soundtracks

So Easy
Written and Performed by Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme
From the Eagles of Death Metal 'Peace Love Death Metal'
Courtesy of Rekords Rekords

User Reviews

One of the best, most original horror films in years

The horror genre for me has been pretty mediocre for the past several years, and so I have pretty much ignored a lot of horror movies that have come out, with the exception of a few. However, after the buzz surrounding Cabin, I knew it was something I had to see. And sure enough, Cabin delivers in spades. It has everything a horror fan could want, from our favorite clichés to some fantastic surprises. Suffice to say, every horror fan should go see this.

I won't spoil the story, but to get into things a little, we focus on the age old tale of horror films: friends go to a remote cabin for some RnR and then the **** hits the fan. And when it does, it does so gleefully. It would be easy to blow this off as a simple parody, but it's not. I won't say how, but this is essentially a horror movie within a horror movie, and it's mostly dead serious. There's plenty of humor throughout, mostly due to Fran Krantz stoner character. And in fact, pretty much all the actors play there parts well. They are likable characters, even if they are cliché, but the clichés are part of the entire point. And in such areas, these characters are great. If you're worried about the horror aspect of the film, fear not, it delivers immensely. There are plenty of chilling scenes, though I wouldn't necessarily call them scary, and there is plenty of gore for the gorehounds, particularly at the end.

To say much more would be to give away too much. I certainly had a few qualms about the film, but they were few and far between. And the less you know the better. I will only say that if you've been looking for good horror film, this is it. Whedon and Goddard have delivered in every way and their film will be remembered for some time in the same way Scream was remembered for shaking up the genre. This is similar, but different in oh so many ways. Go see this movie. It's the kind of film that comes out once in a blue moon.