Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Cabin In The Woods (2012)

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Posted by Mark Ogden (Member # 43) on 04-16-2012, 02:07 PM:

Five youths spend a terrifying night in a secluded cabin, unaware that everything that happens to them is being monitored and controlled by technicians in a secret underground installation.

This is being sold as some kind of great new idea in horror films: a movie that tries to explain why all those kids die in all the other horror flicks. It’s actually a florid, overwritten and nonsensical time waster. There is very little suspense or tension to it at all. The audience is tipped off to the existence of the control technicians very early into the movie, the only thing left to wonder is whom it is that they answer to and why they are doing what they are doing, although even that is telegraphed pretty early on. A lot of plot points are made that don’t go anywhere, a lot happens that doesn’t make a bit of sense (as an example: people in the control center are shown throwing wads of cash into a fishbowl and placing bets on the outcome of what is about to happen. Who in their right mind places a bet on something that is micro-managed right down to the order of who gets killed first?). There are some good scenes towards the end, including one in which all hell breaks loose in a very literal sense, but overall this was a smug look-at-us-ain’t-we-clever bore.

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 04-16-2012, 06:18 PM:

CINEMA: Regal Sunset Station, Henderson, NV
AUDITORIUM: 6
PRESENTATION: Sony Digital 4K
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: Picture slightly out of focus
RATING: Three stars (out of four)

THE PLOT: College kids spend a weekend in a cabin in the woods. Wackiness ensues.

This movie wasn't on my radar at all until somebody at work asked me if I were excited about it and mentioned Joss Whedon was a co-writer. To which I replied "Damnit".

I would have told you to avoid any spoilers and go in with as little information as possible, but Mark's already blown the plot wide open, so I guess I'll just note that, while I don't think it'll become a cult classic, I thought it was pretty damn awesome. And funny. In a lot of ways, this is a satire.

Also, Mark completely missed the point on the betting, even though it was actually explained...

Spoiler Alert - Click to Toggle
They were betting on the creatures the victims would choose, not on the overall outcome

Posted by Mark Ogden (Member # 43) on 04-16-2012, 06:45 PM:

Ummm. . . my review didn't "blow open" anything that hasn't already been revealed in every other review of the picture and discussed to death in every other fan site.

Also, my point about the betting still stands, because . . .

Spoiler Alert - Click to Toggle
The two guys in the control room can manipulate everything right down to the mood of the subjects, and they also control the appearance of the creatures and can unleash them from their cubicles at will (clearly demonstrated before the appearance of the first zombie). Would you place a wager at a roulette table that you know for a fact was rigged? Where is the element of chance when things can be made to occur on cue?

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 04-16-2012, 09:47 PM:

I agree with Mark, the film was a total bore and highly overrated.

-Claude

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 04-24-2012, 09:00 PM:

At lease some film stock wasn't wasted - just erase and reformat the HD's these DCP's came on.

Posted by Tony Gallimore (Member # 5358) on 04-28-2012, 12:00 PM:

I agree, very slow and soon after very boring too. Maybe this thing followed to close on the heels of "Hunger" to catch one's attention.

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 05-16-2012, 06:10 PM:

I LIKED it. It was a damn fun ride and preferable to a lot of the other teen horror stuff that made a lot more money in recent years.