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Cabin in The Woods - April 13th - Best horror film in years?

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Oh and the subplot where
the "higher-ups" (gods/devils/government?) screwed with the cave-in to allow the the sacrifices to almost escape. It seemed like something was afoot this time around but they never really go further with it.

They say that the malfunction came from the upper level and technically the cabin was on the upper level. So, I assume that due to Marty finding the elevator and having messed with its wires and whatnot it triggered a short in the system.

Speaking of plot holes: What's the point of having the characters summon their doom when after that point they can be killed by anything. This is evidenced by the fact that the jock dies when he hits the wall and that Sigourney Weaver tries to kill Marty both without the help of the zombie family

edit: someone beat me to it.
 
They say that the malfunction came from the upper level and technically the cabin was on the upper level. So, I assume that due to Marty finding the elevator and having messed with its wires and whatnot it triggered a short in the system.

Speaking of plot holes: What's the point of having the characters summon their doom when after that point they can be killed by anything. This is evidenced by the fact that the jock dies when he hits the wall and that Sigourney Weaver tries to kill Marty both without the help of the zombie family

edit: someone beat me to it.
I have to imagine
the Ancients wouldn't be pleased if the victims just got gunned down by a swat team right off the bat. The fear and the monsters are part of the ritual.
 

big ander

Member
Oh, if you've seen the film, read Rex Reed's review if you haven't done so yet. Opinions are whatever, people can hate this movie. I've seen some negative reviews that are very well-written. Reed's review, however, is HILARIOUSLY inaccurate and malicious. He literally did not understand the plot, he describes events that do not happen, and he goes out of his way to spoil plot points. It's simultaneously despicable and gut-busting.
They say that the malfunction came from the upper level and technically the cabin was on the upper level. So, I assume that due to Marty finding the elevator and having messed with its wires and whatnot it triggered a short in the system.

Speaking of plot holes: What's the point of having the characters summon their doom when after that point they can be killed by anything. This is evidenced by the fact that the jock dies when he hits the wall and that Sigourney Weaver tries to kill Marty both without the help of the zombie family

edit: someone beat me to it.

In addition to what Neuromancer said,
even Curt driving into the wall was "his choice". Killing them outright leaves zero room for any degree of free will. And while weaver resorted to trying to kill Marty herself, she first tried to convince Dana to do it. Which would still be a choice by one of the kids.
 
Holy shit I just realized one of the
control room guys
played Dan Stark in the Good Guys. I knew I recognized him from something recent.

Also, spoiler warning for this image; what a bad ass haha
 

ari

Banned
Oh, I didn't hear the above either. I thought the weed just made him more aware of the weirdness instead of less.

Fred stated somewhere after he saved the chick from zombie dad. I'm 100 positive she said that their systems and props stopped working the more he smoked pot.
 

Bebpo

Banned
Oh and there was an awkward moment in my screening when

I laughed very loudly when the UNICORN appeared and impaled the guy. The theater was totally quiet and I couldn't stop cracking up. I mean when it first appeared on the board I was like "lol Unicorn, how is that a monster" and then when it showed up in the end I was thinking "how is a unicorn even going to hurt anyone" and then IMPALER HORN lolololoolol

parts of this film were truly amazing
 
This is a movie I want to buy on Bluray so I can go frame by frame in some of the scenes
(basement, control room screens, and the purge scenes
for example.)
 

Bebpo

Banned
In the negative, I feel like Fran Kranz may not much range even if he's great at what he does. He seemed like he was essentially playing the same character as he was in the Dollhouse. Neurotic crazy guy.

Still, I didn't even know he was in the movie until he showed up and that brought a smile to my face since he was one of the best actors in Dollhouse.
 

ivysaur12

Banned
I'm not sure how I felt about the ending. Need some time to mull it over. I think I liked the idea behind it, the execution... hmm... The best part was when the Japanese girls
turned the demon into the frog. "FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU!"

Also, is there a list of the
monsters? Or their corresponding "choices" in the basement?

Kinda wish Topher and Saunders had a scene together, but oh well.
 
I'm not sure how I felt about the ending. Need some time to mull it over. I think I liked the idea behind it, the execution... hmm... The best part was when the Japanese girls
turned the demon into the frog. "FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU!"

Also, is there a list of the
monsters? Or their corresponding "choices" in the basement?

Kinda wish Topher and Saunders had a scene together, but oh well.
.
 

big ander

Member
Fred stated somewhere after he saved the chick from zombie dad. I'm 100 positive she said that their systems and props stopped working the more he smoked pot.
Cool. That's a plausible explanation then. Fucking Chemical.
 
I actually think that
the old gods are supposed to be the modern horror movie audience. The Director and her staff do their best to appease us with the same old tropes, because the horror movie audience demands gore, nudity, and formula. The fact that the initial villains were Zombie Redneck Torture-porn worshippers spoke to the played out formula that modern audiences seem to buy into. What I'm not sure of is what the writers want us to think about the old gods awakening: is this supposed to represent the core-audience waking up to bitch at anything that doesn't follow genre rules, or is this a "Brand New Day" for audiences, being shown a new way that doesn't rely on cliche?

Or am I just talking like the stoner character?

EDIT: A spoiler-filled review at aintitcool that shares a similar idea - http://www.aintitcool.com/node/54997

This is EXACTLY what I thought the movie was about. Well, sort of.

I felt like the first hour hit all the tropes we expect from a horror movie as a means of raising the question of what is POSSIBLE in the genre, versus what we're typically given by Hollywood. The first hour is your rote Hollywood horror flick with metatextual dialogue from the control staff. The remaining 45 minutes are examples of what's possible when you're willing to work beyond Hollywood expectations, IE throw a ton of different monsters into the mix, sacrifice all your heroes, end the world, etc.
 

Platy

Member
The more spoilers i read, the more i want to read.

...now i'm happy that this movie only starts on theaters in 4 months !
Till then my awesome memory will forget it =P
 
I have to imagine
the Ancients wouldn't be pleased if the victims just got gunned down by a swat team right off the bat. The fear and the monsters are part of the ritual.

Makes sense considering most forms of ritual sacrifice involved a willing participant. So, essentially the control center is pushing the kids into making the choice of being sacrificed, but why not just have the teens summon the monsters and then just gun them down? Technically they already willingly participated.
 

ivysaur12

Banned
I don't think the actual mythology of the
Ancients
is terribly important compared to what they represent metaphorically.
 

big ander

Member
Makes sense considering most forms of ritual sacrifice involved a willing participant. So, essentially the control center is pushing the kids into making the choice of being sacrificed, but why not just have the teens summon the monsters and then just gun them down? Technically they already willingly participated.

Because they also
have to choose to split up, or have sex in the woods, or try to leave, and so on. The more margin there is for choice, the more satisfied the Ancients are.
 

Replicant

Member
I don't watch much horror, but did watch this movie. Why was the cabin shaped like a rubix cube?

I haven't seen this film but I assume it's a reference to another horror film called "Cube"? Where
a bunch of people are stuck inside a cube-like construction and must remember why they're there and how they can get out. In that film, the cube is arranged in such a way that it can push the players to another area by booby-trapping some part or turning it around, etc just like a rubix cube. Not sure if it's the same with this film
.
 
I don't watch much horror, but did watch this movie. Why was the cabin shaped like a rubix cube?

It's just creative liberties with the poster. The tag line for the movie is "You think you know the story?". It's supposed to be symbolic for the way the movie is different from other slasher flicks. There's another poster out there that's like an MC Escher drawing. Same basic idea.
 
Quick question - haven't seen it but got the feeling the trailer ruins the plot. Am I wrong?

The "revelations" in the trailer are basically revealed in the first few minutes on the movie and it bounces back and forth between settings. It doesn't all just get revealed in the later part of the movie like the trailer makes it seem.
 

Dead

well not really...yet
For me, the twist in the movie wasn't so much a twist, but rather just
how fucking unexpected the extreme madness that the last 20 or so minutes were. I mean, it was just pure crazy in the best way possible
I totally didn't expect that, and figured that the
whiteboard was just a giant cocktease and all we'd get to see were the zombies
since I assumed this must have been very low budget.
 

Scarecrow

Member
This was kind of like a horror movie version of Hunger Games when you think about it

Quick question - haven't seen it but got the feeling the trailer ruins the plot. Am I wrong?

You'll be fine. It may also behoove you to stop asking questions about the movie. The absolute less you know, the better.
 

ivysaur12

Banned
The best death was clearly
death by unicorn.

What were the
masked monsters that tied up the people and burned them supposed to be? Dolls?
 
The best death was clearly
death by unicorn.

What were the
masked monsters that tied up the people and burned them supposed to be? Dolls?

Yes. I recalled that there was the dolls in the basement with the same face as the people. Pretty cool in retrospect.
 

ivysaur12

Banned
Yes. I recalled that there was the dolls in the basement with the same face as the people. Pretty cool in retrospect.

Still sad we never saw the
angry molesting tree
. I wonder, what would have happened if
Fran Kranz's character had picked the film?
 

RagnarokX

Member
I just got back from the theater, good movie.

In one of the cells I could have sworn there was what looked like a large group of college/high school kids having a party. What was that supposed to be?

Also, where was the buzzsaw robot on the whiteboard?
 
Just got back from seeing this. Man, such a good movie.

Personally, my favorite part of the movie was
The guard saying "Oh Shit" right as the elevators dinged and then just that brief second's pause before all the monsters leapt out.

Also,
I probably would have loved the killer unicorn more if Supernatural hadn't done the exact same thing in an episode earlier this year.

I think it's a brilliant deconstruction of the genre overall. Plus Fran Kranz is awesome. Definitely up there in my favorite movies.
 
I was more disappointed
we didn't get to see sexy witches.

Would've been nice to see.

I liked it. Quite a bit actually. Funny at times and constantly kept me interested. The insanity in the third act was awesome, though I'm not a fan of the ending. In terms of it as a metaphor, I get that
it's a metaphor for horror fans and the horror genre in general, but in terms of story, I hate, hate endings where the world ends or there's an apocalypse or whatever. Always makes me feel downbeat. But the sheer insanity once Dana and Marty release all the monsters from captivity was amazing and amazingly fucked up.

And that fucking merman! One of the best scenes in the entire movie.

But there's was lots of funny stuff I enjoyed. The stoner and the those two guys (Whitford and the other guy) were great. I liked the entire cast, really. The girl, Dana, gorgeous.

Also before the movie started, the trailer for Piranha 3DD came on. I didn't even know they were making a sequel to Piranha 3D. Looks fun.
 
just got back.... really great movie, i loved it. not going to go into detail since it has all been said in this thread but it kind of gave me an evil dead vibe in a way. can't wait for the blu-ray!
 
LOVED the movie. I usually hate horror movies but went on saw this based on the Rottentomatoes score. Totally deserves the 90+ RT rating. Joss will be fine after Avengers but I hope Drew Goddard gets to make another movie after this.

Edit: Also, goddamn...how hot is this chick....

anna-h.jpg
 
I liked it, if the trailers didn't spoil so much it would have been so much sweeter, i took a young philly who never even knew the movie existed..she was riveted, didn't even touch her sour patch kids candy.. the reveals hit her harder.
 

Dr. Malik

FlatAss_
I wouldn't consider this a horror movie especially after the third act where nothing scary happens. The movie just kept going over the top for me to really enjoy it but it gets points for having Chris Hemsworth shirtless

should have waited till it hit Redbox
 

big ander

Member
I haven't seen this film but I assume it's a reference to another horror film called "Cube"? Where
a bunch of people are stuck inside a cube-like construction and must remember why they're there and how they can get out. In that film, the cube is arranged in such a way that it can push the players to another area by booby-trapping some part or turning it around, etc just like a rubix cube. Not sure if it's the same with this film
.
nnnope.
Quick question - haven't seen it but got the feeling the trailer ruins the plot. Am I wrong?
You're wrong, despite what others have said. I thought the trailer gave away too much before I saw it. I was completely wrong.
I thought the 'dumb college kids in a self-referential in-jokey horror film' stuff in the beginning-middle was too cute by half, mostly because I'm totally burnt out on slasher parodies like Tucker & Dale. Once the actual carnage started and it got twistier and twistier, though, I enjoyed it more and more. The final half hour or so was admirably insane. I did laugh at the appearance of
the Merman, as well as the blood spurting from his blowhole
.
I think the icarus seal of approval is important for a film like this. Glad you like it.
 

big ander

Member
Do you know how annoying this is? Just say what you think it's supposed to be referencing. I also thought it was a reference to Cube.
Well, someone had answered it above. I only responded to that post to highlight to a person that hasn't seen the film that it's very unrelated.

I don't "know" what the poster is, I had always assumed it was artistic liberty because it looks cool and is for a complicated film. And I still think that.
 
The cabin's not shaped like a rubik's cube. I'm confused.

It's a creative use of something we all find familiar to bring a deeper meaning to the aforementioned cabin. That's literally it. Nothing more. Nothing less. I don't think its a reference to anything. Just marketing people being clever.
 

beelzebozo

Jealous Bastard
yeah, i just took the poster as a metaphor for trying to "solve" the very complex situation taking place in the cabin.
 
Just got back from watching it...I was not as impressed as others on this thread. It was entertaining but nothing AMAZING (to me anyways).

There were some really funny parts and lines though...

The people I went with absolutely hated the movie...
 
It was a good movie, but it wasn't scary at all. And I've sort of grown immune to comedy/horror blends, so I didn't find it particularly funny either.

[REC] is the only truly great horror film I've seen in the last decade or so.
 

ivysaur12

Banned
I'm expecting reactions to be very polarized on it. Can't wait to talk about this at work on Monday with people that thought it was a horror film.
 
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