I'm still trying to figure out why Hollywood has been on this kick lately where they feel the urge to release horror movies so far away from Halloween. It wouldn't be so bad if they worked it out so that there were some coming out during Halloween season too, but that hasn't been the case lately. So here I am faced with the decision to see a horror movie on Easter weekend? Didn't seem quite right, but with the normally uptight site Rotten Tomatoes giving it a good rating there I was at a matinee of "Cabin in the Woods".
The story is that five friends go off to a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Because you know any good horror movie has to involve at least five friends going off to the middle of nowhere. Although it doesn't always necessarily be in the woods, it certainly does help. An entire "Friday the 13th" franchise was based on it. All 13 movies. An entire franchise can't be wrong, can it?
Anyway, I don't want to give too much away on this one for the folks who haven't seen it and genuinely want to. However, I have to touch on some of the secrets in order to accurately analyze it. If you've seen any of the trailers at all, you already know the cabin isn't what it seems to be. That the kids were sent there as a set up. Probably for them all to die. My question is, who really still goes out to a cabin in the middle of the woods anyway? Don't people watch movies? And if you do that, why in the world would you mess around with stuff in there which is OBVIOUSLY weird??
It was too bad that the one sound voice of reason in that instance was the kid who smoked weed. Almost sending a message to the kids watching that movie that weed will help you escape a murdering spree. Okay, that is reaching, but it was predictable that he was the only one who was thinking clearly. It's rather ironic because of all the actors in the movie he was probably the one that did the worst job.
I will give "Cabin in the Woods" props for keeping you guessing. I thought I had it figured out exactly what the place was and it's purpose early on. It turns out I was wrong and wasn't able to figure it out until deep into the flick. However, they lose much points for biting from a "Blade" movie concept that any "Blade" fan will pick up on immediately when they see this one.
As of the writing of this post, "Rotten Tomatoes" has this rated at 92%. One of the highest ratings they've had which isn't an easy feat for a site that's notoriously stingy with their ratings. I think they were off the mark on this one though. "Cabin in the Woods" had its moments. Particularly the free-for-all that showcased the finale. It also had some pretty bad-arse monsters. Ultimately, I personally wasn't a fan of the blatant "Blade" ripoff that was pretty much the premise of the film though. Or the prevalent subpar acting. It was probably best they put this out now instead of getting hopes up at Halloween time.
My rating: B -
