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Meanwhile, five college students — Dana ([[Kristen Connolly]]), Curt ([[Chris Hemsworth]]), Jules ([[Anna Hutchison]]), Marty ([[Fran Kranz]]), and Holden ([[Jesse Williams (actor)|Jesse Williams]]) — drive out for a vacation to a remote cabin in the woods, while the technicians keep an eye on the students with hidden cameras. Each student is manipulated into a fairly common horror archetype by the organization, a point which is made several times in the film itself.
Meanwhile, five college students — Dana ([[Kristen Connolly]]), Curt ([[Chris Hemsworth]]), Jules ([[Anna Hutchison]]), Marty ([[Fran Kranz]]), and Holden ([[Jesse Williams (actor)|Jesse Williams]]) — drive out for a vacation to a remote cabin in the woods, while the technicians keep an eye on the students with hidden cameras. Each student is manipulated into a fairly common horror archetype by the organization, a point which is made several times in the film itself.


At the cabin, the friends divide up rooms and settle in while the observing technicians place bets on which scenario the students will unwittingly select. Once the students enter the basement through a trap-door, they discover a number of artifacts, each of which hints at its own [[sub-genre]] of [[Horror fiction|horror]], ranging from a sphere which is reminiscent of [[Lemarchand's box]] from the Hellraiser series to a [[Scarab (artifact)|scarab]]-like pendant. Dana reads an incantation from an old diary, which is the trigger for a scenario involving a family of zombies which rise from the grave.
At the cabin, the friends divide up rooms and settle in while the observing technicians place bets on which scenario the students will unwittingly select. Once the students enter the basement through a trap-door, they discover a number of artifacts, each of which hints at its own [[sub-genre]] of [[Horror fiction|horror]], ranging from a sphere which is reminiscent of [[Lemarchand's box]] from the Hellraiser series to a [[Scarab (artifact)|scarab]]-like pendant. Dana reads an incantation from an old diary, which is the trigger for a scenario involving a family of zombies which rise from the grave.


Curt and Jules go outside to have sex, under the influence of the technicians who remotely administer drugs via a ventilation system. Zombies attack the lovers and Jules is killed. Meanwhile, in the cabin, the paranoid Marty begins to feel as if things are being controlled by "[[puppeteer]]s" (it is later stated that his use of marijuana, treated with additional mind-altering chemicals by the technicians, has made him resilient to the drugs being used to guide the students' actions) and goes outside, where he runs into the fleeing Curt and a zombie. The friends attempt to barricade the cabin against the zombies while the technicians attempt to bring about their deaths. Marty finds a surveillance camera in his room, confirming his paranoid fantasies, but he is attacked and presumably killed off-screen. Holden, Dana, and Curt flee in their RV.
Curt and Jules go outside to have sex, under the influence of the technicians who remotely administer drugs via a ventilation system. Zombies attack the lovers and Jules is killed. Meanwhile, in the cabin, the paranoid Marty begins to feel as if things are being controlled by "[[puppeteer]]s" (it is later stated that his use of marijuana, treated with additional mind-altering chemicals by the technicians, has made him resilient to the drugs being used to guide the students' actions) and goes outside, where he runs into the fleeing Curt and a zombie. The friends attempt to barricade the cabin against the zombies while the technicians attempt to bring about their deaths. Marty finds a surveillance camera in his room, confirming his paranoid fantasies, but he is attacked and presumably killed off-screen. Holden, Dana, and Curt flee in their RV.

Revision as of 18:10, 17 April 2012

The Cabin in the Woods
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDrew Goddard
Written byDrew Goddard
Joss Whedon
Produced byJoss Whedon
StarringKristen Connolly
Chris Hemsworth
Anna Hutchison
Fran Kranz
Jesse Williams
Richard Jenkins
Bradley Whitford
CinematographyPeter Deming
Edited byLisa Lassek
Music byDavid Julyan
Production
company
Distributed byLionsgate
Release date
  • April 13, 2012 (2012-04-13)
[1]
Running time
95 minutes [2]
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million
Box office$14,850,000 [3]

The Cabin in the Woods is a 2012 horror film co-written and directed by Drew Goddard[4] and co-written and produced by Joss Whedon. It stars Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Jesse Williams, Anna Hutchison, and Fran Kranz. The film was released on April 13, 2012.

Plot

Two technicians in a sophisticated industrial facility — Richard Sitterson (Richard Jenkins) and Steve Hadley (Bradley Whitford) — are getting ready for an unknown operation, one of several taking place around the world.

Meanwhile, five college students — Dana (Kristen Connolly), Curt (Chris Hemsworth), Jules (Anna Hutchison), Marty (Fran Kranz), and Holden (Jesse Williams) — drive out for a vacation to a remote cabin in the woods, while the technicians keep an eye on the students with hidden cameras. Each student is manipulated into a fairly common horror archetype by the organization, a point which is made several times in the film itself.

At the cabin, the friends divide up rooms and settle in while the observing technicians place bets on which scenario the students will unwittingly select (Monster Whiteboard). Once the students enter the basement through a trap-door, they discover a number of artifacts, each of which hints at its own sub-genre of horror, ranging from a sphere which is reminiscent of Lemarchand's box from the Hellraiser series to a scarab-like pendant. Dana reads an incantation from an old diary, which is the trigger for a scenario involving a family of zombies which rise from the grave.

Curt and Jules go outside to have sex, under the influence of the technicians who remotely administer drugs via a ventilation system. Zombies attack the lovers and Jules is killed. Meanwhile, in the cabin, the paranoid Marty begins to feel as if things are being controlled by "puppeteers" (it is later stated that his use of marijuana, treated with additional mind-altering chemicals by the technicians, has made him resilient to the drugs being used to guide the students' actions) and goes outside, where he runs into the fleeing Curt and a zombie. The friends attempt to barricade the cabin against the zombies while the technicians attempt to bring about their deaths. Marty finds a surveillance camera in his room, confirming his paranoid fantasies, but he is attacked and presumably killed off-screen. Holden, Dana, and Curt flee in their RV.

They get as far as a long mountain tunnel, but their escape is thwarted when the technicians blow it up, cutting them off from the outside world. Curt uses his motorbike to jump the gap in the exit road but as he jumps, he runs into an enormous force field that kills him, and Holden and Dana realize something much greater is happening than they had believed. Dana now believes Marty's talk of "puppeteers." A zombie kills Holden and the RV crashes into the lake. The technicians drink in celebration that they have completed the "ritual," while the screens in the background show Dana fighting for her life with the zombie. The party soon stops when a phone call from "upstairs" informs them that Marty is still alive, and he rescues Dana.

Marty, having survived his encounter with the zombies, came across a hidden control box near the cabin from which he was able to access an elevator with glass walls. He and Dana take it down to the facility where the technicians are, and as they do so, they pass by a number of monsters, each of which corresponds to an artifact from the cellar. Their glass elevator is but one of many pods, each containing a monster. Dana and Marty escape the elevator but are cornered by a SWAT team. To escape, they release the monsters in all the pods, who start killing everyone in the facility.

Dana and Marty find a large crypt with strange tablets and meet the "Director" (Sigourney Weaver). She tells them the reason for the ritual is to appease gods called "The Ancient Ones" who live beneath the facility and demand the annual sacrifice of five young people who comprise certain archetypes, or else they will rise and destroy the world. As the other rituals taking place around the world have failed, the Director urges Dana to kill Marty before sunrise to complete the ritual and save all of humanity. Dana aims her gun at Marty, but hesitates. The Director tries to kill Marty while Dana is attacked by a werewolf. Marty saves her as the Director is attacked by a zombie and Marty knocks both zombie and Director off the platform and into the abode of the Ancient Ones.

Marty sits and comforts Dana while also lighting a joint. He then remarks that this course of action might be for the best, that it might be better for someone else to get a chance at life. Morning comes and Marty and Dana hold each other as the gigantic hand of an Ancient One rises up and destroys the facility and cabin.

Cast

Production

The project began filming in March 2009 and completed on May 29, 2009, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Joss Whedon co-wrote the script with Cloverfield screenwriter Drew Goddard, who also directed the film, marking his directorial debut. Goddard previously worked with Whedon on both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel as a writer.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on November 3, 2010, but the film was still released as one of MGM's last pre-Spyglass films in development.

Whedon described the film as an attempt to revitalize the horror genre which he, along with director/co-writer Goddard, felt had "devolved" with the introduction of "torture porn". He called it a "loving hate letter" to the genre, continuing:

On another level it's a serious critique of what we love and what we don't about horror movies. I love being scared. I love that mixture of thrill, of horror, that objectification/identification thing of wanting definitely for the people to be alright but at the same time hoping they’ll go somewhere dark and face something awful. The things that I don't like are kids acting like idiots, the devolution of the horror movie into torture porn and into a long series of sadistic comeuppances. Drew and I both felt that the pendulum had swung a little too far in that direction.[10]

Release

The Cabin in the Woods was slated for wide release on February 5, 2010[6][11] and then delayed until January 14, 2011 so the film could be converted to 3D.[12][13] However, on June 17, 2010, MGM announced that the film would be delayed indefinitely due to ongoing financial difficulties at the studio.[14][15]

On March 16, 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported the following: "New (MGM) chief executives Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum are seeking to sell both (a) Red Dawn (remake) and the horror film The Cabin in the Woods, the last two pictures produced under a previous regime, as they try to reshape the 87-year-old company."[16] A distribution sale to Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation was announced on April 28, 2011,[17] with some industry news outlets reporting plans for a Halloween 2011 release.[18] On July 20, 2011, Lionsgate announced that they had acquired the distribution rights to the film and set a release date of April 13, 2012.[1]

The film had its world premiere at the South by Southwest film festival on March 9, 2012.[19]

Monster Whiteboard

Werewolf Finance The Scarecrow Folk Data Archives
Alien Beast Bio Med Snowman Communications
Mutants Demolitions Dragonbat
Wraiths Vampires Distribution
Zombies Chem Dismemberment Goblins
Reptilius Sugarplum Fairy
Clowns E...illegible Merman Hadley
Witches illegible The Reanimated Administration
Sexy Witches A.....illegible Unicorn Engineering
Demons Huron R+D
Hell Lord S....illegible Sasquatch/Wendigo/Yeti
Angry Molesting Tree W...illegible Dolls Kitchen Staff
The Doctors Accounting
Giant Snake Intern....illegible Zombie Redneck Torture Family Maintenance
Deadites Story.....illegible Ronald the Intern
Kevin Jack O' Latern Security
Mummy Payroll Giant Zoology
The Bride Digital.....illegible Twins

Reception

The Cabin in the Woods has received positive critical reception; based on 159 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds a 92% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 7.9/10. The reviewers for Spill.com praised the film, calling it a "game-changer" and saying it was on par with classic genre-bending horror films like Evil Dead II.[20]

Film critic Roger Ebert gave The Cabin in the Woods three stars out of four, and commented "The Cabin in the Woods has been constructed almost as a puzzle for horror fans to solve. Which conventions are being toyed with? Which authors and films are being referred to? Is the film itself an act of criticism?"[21]

References

  1. ^ a b "Lionsgate Schedules THE CABIN IN THE WOODS for April 13, 2012". Collider. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
  2. ^ "THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 2012-03-22. Retrieved 2012-04-13.
  3. ^ "The Cabin in the Woods (2012)". Box Office Mojo. 2012-04-13. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
  4. ^ "Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods to Feature Creatures?". Dreadcentral.com. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  5. ^ Barnes, Brooks. "The Cabin in the Woods". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  6. ^ a b Reynolds, Simon (10 March 2009). "Five more go to 'Cabin In The Woods'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  7. ^ Kit, Borys (21 January 2009). "Two feel Joss Whedon's 'Cabin' pressure". The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 21 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) [dead link]
  8. ^ Fernandez, Jay A. (22 March 2009). "'Stomp the Yard' actor lands two film roles". The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 23 March 2009. [dead link]
  9. ^ "'The Cabin in the Woods' a Creature Feature?!". Bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  10. ^ Film, Total. "Joss Whedon talks The Cabin In The Woods". TotalFilm.com. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
  11. ^ Lee, Patrick (7 January 2009). "Joss Whedon is now working with Tom Cruise. Horrors? Yes!". Sci Fi Wire. SCI FI. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  12. ^ "Whedon's Cabin in the Woods Going 3D in '11". Comingsoon.net. 9 October 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
  13. ^ "Whedon's CABIN moves ahead a year…into the third dimension". Fangoria.
  14. ^ "Joss Whedon's Cabin in the Woods may be MGM's next casualty". Cinemablend.com. 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  15. ^ "MGM To Morph Into A Pure Production Play?". Deadline.com.
  16. ^ Fritz, Ben; Horn, John (16 March 2011). "Reel China: Hollywood tries to stay on China's good side". Los Angeles Times.
  17. ^ "Joss Whedon's 'Cabin In The Woods' With 'Thor's Chris Hemsworth Going To Lionsgate". Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  18. ^ "The Cabin in the Woods Coming October 28?". Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  19. ^ "SXSW: 'Cabin in the Woods' kills at premiere. Just don't talk about it!". Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  20. ^ "The Cabin in the Woods". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2012-04-17.
  21. ^ "The Cabin in the Woods :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews". Rogerebert.suntimes.com. Retrieved 2012-04-17.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Cabin_in_the_Woods&oldid=487870461"