2012/11/10

Cabin in the Woods review

Okay I saw this in the theatre but apparently didn't write a review of it so I will now as I just watched it on Blu-Ray.

Let me just say this was a fantastic movie.  Since this movie is already out on DVD if you haven't scene it yet it is your own fault!  So there are spoilers ahead!

I listened to the commentary as I watched this.  I remember in the theatre I was maybe 5 minutes late so I missed the fancy opening credits and you open with two middle age guys in an office.  I thought to myself "Shit I went into the wrong theatre" and went out to check and went back in really confused.  Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard mentioned that is what they wanted for the opening so they did a good job.  Oh and for the record Goddard has a really weird voice thing going.  I hadn't watched West Wing yet but seeing Bradley Whitford, Josh Lyman on there, as what some would call a bad guy, is odd after getting to know him as Josh but he is really good.  

Lets get that out of the way actually.  The acting is perfect in this flick.  Honestly they were all fantastic.  The first time I saw it I didn't like Marty's voice but the second time it didn't bother me that much.  But honestly the acting as an entire cast was awesome.

Back to the movie.  The idea is a "corporation" for lack of a better word is in charge of setting up a sacrifice to appease the Ancient Ones to stop from destroying the world.  They manipulate a group of stereotypes, a virgin, a fool/jester, a jock, a nerd and a whore I believe.  They go to a cabin in the woods and all hell breaks loose.  

Let me explain a few of the cooler concepts for this.  The kids actually end up picking their own killers.  They go down into a basement that is full of little things and that is what will bring their killers.  They end up reading a diary from a little girl and that brings a bunch of redneck pain loving zombies.

Another cool thing is the control room.  What is cool about it is there are dozens of monitors that they have stuff on.  One brutal scene is when the Corp thinks everyone has died.  They are having a great big party and in the background they show the zombie just beating the hell out of the virgin character.  I mean on the big screen it was almost uncomfortable.  Also at the end when all the baddies are killing everyone you see dozens of screens of mythical monsters killing people.  It is really neat.

The bad guys are cool is the dad zombie guy uses a bear trap to grab people which is cool.  Unique as I don't think a bear trap on a chain has been used before.

Another thing that is odd is that Thor, Chris Hemsworth, filmed this before Thor and the others but it came out after.  I hadn't seen Thor so I didn't realize that until watching it now.

There were a few things I didn't like about the movie.  This is might be the only time I'll say it but I wish the movie was longer!  I felt like it was rushed a bit.  I would have liked about 30 minutes longer. A little more about how they Corp had manipulated the teens into their roles and also a little more in the control room and lastly more killing when it all hits the fan.  Seeing a few more monsters would have been cool but there just wasn't the money I guess.

The commentary is interesting if you're a movie buff like me.  I like to hear about the writing process but Joss Whedon, as much as I like his stuff, comes off a little self absorbed just a bit.

As far as the DVD I miss the fact that there are no deleted scenes.  I love deleted scenes and trying to figure out the editors and directors thoughts as to why delete those scenes and leave the others.  I love the movie making process.

Overall if you like horror movies and/or comedies this is a good one.  Pick it up if you haven't seen it guys!

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