Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

The Cabin in the Woods
2012
****
Director: Drew Goddard
Cast: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford

This clever and self-aware horror movie starts off like The Evil Dead or Cabin Fever: five college students head out to a remote cabin for a weekend, which ends up being anything but fun. However, Drew Goddard and his co-writer Josh Whedon turn this formulaic premise on its head: these five friends unknowingly turn into stock characters and seem to be part of a twisted and cynical Hunger Games-type reality show. Goddard and Whedon's wonderfully fresh script doesn't stop there either. Their multileveled nightmare world keeps springing new surprises and by the end it feels like a very dark version of Lost. There are some nasty and gruesome scenes, which are counterbalanced with enjoyable comedy.