{"id":4218,"date":"2012-05-15T05:30:48","date_gmt":"2012-05-15T10:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/?p=4218"},"modified":"2012-05-14T20:00:22","modified_gmt":"2012-05-15T01:00:22","slug":"the-horror-of-it-all-pt-5-the-cabin-in-the-woods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/2012\/05\/15\/the-horror-of-it-all-pt-5-the-cabin-in-the-woods\/","title":{"rendered":"The Horror of it All Pt. 5: The Cabin in the Woods"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Part 1: It Started in the Basement<\/a><\/p>\n

Part 2: Stephen King<\/a><\/p>\n

Part 3: My [Kinds of] Monster Movies<\/a><\/p>\n

Part 4: My Own Tales of Terror<\/a><\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

If you don’t know the name Joss Whedon, you’ve probably at least heard about a little movie called The Avengers<\/em> that he wrote and directed.<\/p>\n

But a month ago, he was part of another movie that I want to talk about: The Cabin in the Woods<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Whedon wrote it with Drew Goddard (who directed the movie). Why would I dedicate the final entry in my babbling about horror and me to this movie?<\/p>\n

Because…it made me fall in love with the genre all over again!<\/p>\n

Stopping Horror<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I mentioned that I stopped watching horror when it seemed to take a turn toward movies about people just being tortured for 90 minutes. Apparently, that bothered Whedon, too, and was — according to an interview I read — one of the things he wanted to touch on when he and Goddard got together to write the script.<\/p>\n

I know there’s been good horror being made; I just strayed away…and I’m not the only one I know. One can only watch so many Saw <\/em>sequels or, “Hey, look! MORE ZOMBIES!!!” before it just all loses something.<\/p>\n

Hell, the very first footage I saw from The Cabin in the Woods<\/em> focused on the five characters in a cabin and left me thinking, “Aw, come on!” (BTW: “Aw, come on…!”<\/em> is one of my favorite lines in The Cabin in the Woods<\/em>…at least what follows the line being said. I don’t know the last time I laughed that hard in a theater.)<\/p>\n

\"\"
Who WOULDN'T want to spend a night here? WHY would you do such a thing? That -- and so much more -- is answered in The Cabin in the Woods<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Things are Not What They Seem<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When I started seeing trailers for The Cabin in the Woods<\/em>, I realized it wasn’t what I thought it was. (Trailer here<\/a>, but really…you should just go see it with no spoilers!)<\/p>\n

The movie surprised me because it wasn’t what I expected — even after <\/em>I realized it wasn’t what I thought it was. I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say it’s a love letter to EVERY horror movie ever made…and…explains the REASON for every horror movie ever made!<\/p>\n

That’s no easy task.<\/p>\n

Tight Writing<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I’m not going to say The Cabin in the Woods<\/em> is the best movie you’ll see this year, or that it’s the best horror movie ever. But in a weird way, it’s both those things (and more) to me.<\/p>\n

What I will <\/em>say is that if you remotely <\/em>like horror and tight writing, GO SEE IT…and learn!<\/p>\n

I really <\/em>stopped watching horror because it all started seeming the same to me. With the exception of things that kind of deconstructed the genre, like SCREAM<\/em>, horror left me flat. The writing was so basic, and often lacking any heart: take group of people, isolate them, kill a bunch — maybe letting one get away — and set up the sequel. And that’s all fine…I can’t argue that structure, especially when that basic structure is what taught me how to write. (Although I was always more interested in psychological horror.)<\/p>\n

The Cabin in the Woods<\/em> is a good reminder of the payoff that comes from knowing your history and refining your twist on it all until it’s…not what it seems. It’s basic in itself: set up an archetype, and then spin that archetype on its head, but I’m not sure I’ve seen a movie do such a brilliant job at that, recently, as The Cabin in the Woods<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It Pays to Be Funny<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Cabin in the Woods<\/em> didn’t scare me. (That doesn’t seem to be the goal.) There are some creepy parts, but they lean on established horror techniques meant to evoke a sense of…well, creepiness! It’s a very interesting film from the opening scene, which could almost leave a viewer who hasn’t seen the trailer wondering if they are watching the wrong film. (The opening dialogue is the best opening to a movie I’ve seen in years.) It’s all…pretty damn funny!<\/p>\n

It’s not a laugh-a-minute film, but when something funny happens, it’s like a headshot by a sniper — right on target! Little things established earlier pay off in remarkable (and often hysterical) ways. While there are truly horrifying things in The Cabin in the Woods<\/em> (people in the theater seemed quite bothered by the last 30-40 minutes), one of the most horrifying things is finding yourself laughing at things you should be ashamed to find humorous.<\/p>\n

It takes a particular understanding of what you’re writing and an understanding of human nature to pull that off. Whedon and Goddard wield that ability like a weapon. Weeks later, I’m still thinking about The Cabin in the Woods<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Letting the Creepiness Creep Back In<\/strong><\/h2>\n

So that’s it! Like I said, The Cabin in the Woods<\/em> made me fall back in love with the genre. I’ve looked at old horror stories I started years ago and set aside, wondering how they’d turn out with 10-15 years of experience between then and now. And…I’ve also been digging around, looking for the movies that slipped through the cracks while I stepped away. That’s where you come in.<\/p>\n

In the last 10-15 years, tell me what I’ve missed!<\/p>\n

And go see The Cabin in the Woods<\/em>…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Part 1: It Started in the Basement Part 2: Stephen King Part 3: My [Kinds of] Monster Movies Part 4: My Own Tales of Terror * * * If you don’t know the name Joss Whedon, you’ve probably at least heard about a little movie called The Avengers that he wrote and directed. But a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[24,23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4218"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4218"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4218\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4226,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4218\/revisions\/4226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.christophergronlund.com\/blog\/tjw\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}