A Cabin In The Woods: A Horror Film Fan's Analysis

I have to be honest here, as a classic horror film fan, in the rarest of forms; I did not expect to enjoy a film like “Cabin in the Woods.” Although, I must admit, it really isn’t all that bad. It did a good job of blending comedy with horror, I found myself laughing constantly throughout the film. Most of the characters are very dry, and stereotypical, but they are supposed to be. This makes them easier to like and care for, although I struggled with that for the first half of the film. This movie is a satire of the horror genre, no doubt. And even more specifically the slasher genre. The most original addition is the worldwide corporation that sets up the traps for the teenagers. My issue with this though was that it left me wanting more explained, and I didn’t feel as if I got that. Instead the ending really trailed off from the original story, and I did not enjoy it. It was almost as if they did not know how to end the film so they threw together a passable conclusion. I did not understand the point of Sigourney Weaver’s character, or why the cabin was consumed into the center of the Earth by what is the “angry hand of the gods.” It just felt like a very manufactured and ill prepared conclusion to me. The build-up on the other hand, as stated, was quite enjoyable. You can really notice where they took inspiration right out of tons of horror classics such as Evil Dead, Evil Dead 2, Friday the 13^th, Children of the Corn, and Hellraiser, amongst others. As a huge horror fan I could appreciate this new era horror smash. But for a true horror fan in the purest sense, it still left some issues to be addressed.