Review

It’s hard to write in an expansive way about Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods because the very premise is a spoiler. I will say that five attractive young people (a promiscuous blonde, a “good girl,” two hunks, and one stoner wise guy) go deep into the backwoods to frolic and drink and have sex and … die hideously? Sure looks that way, but what’s going on with the—? Why are all those corporate types, including Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford, sitting behind a battery of monitors and placing bets on—? If Scream was a meta-hack-’em-up, Cabin takes five giant steps back to reveal a wider canvas, gleefully jumbling together every kind of modern horror picture, paranoid-conspiracy thrillers, Matrix-style sci-fi, and a dollop of H. P. Lovecraft. Is it scary? Not especially. But there are enough gory surprises around every bend to keep you laughing/screaming/cringing. Probably Goddard and producer Joss Whedon were laughing even harder as they raided their mental warehouses for more tropes to travesty. The movie is fun—but any resemblance to what drew us to the genre in the first place is coincidental. — David Edelstein

Related Stories

New York Magazine Reviews

• David Edelstein's Full Review (4/16/12)