* – This receives a “Worth Seeing” rating if you’re familiar with most Horror movie tropes from the last 35 years. As for me, I went because it received two major endorsements from Horror experts I respect and when a movie gets the Jarrett or Lester Seal of Approval, I’m willing to take the chance despite the name Joss Whedon being displayed in the production credits.
There isn’t too much to write about without it being full of spoilers (maybe there can be a discussion held elsewhere). In my opinion, Cabin is a successor to Scream because it takes the audience to the next level: Scream is ironic, Cabin is meta (Webster.com oddly doesn’t have this definition). I feel my point about the movie being meta isn’t a strong spoiler though, you can tell something is off with the plot after the opening credits.
The premise? Five attractive people in their early twenties are off to spend a long weekend at some cousin’s summer place…the infamous cabin in the woods, the setting used in other classics: Evil Dead 2 and Friday the 13th. Each person is the stereotype from the Slasher flicks or the Scooby Doo gang. Then comes the catalyst event which triggers the killing action. Unlike its source material, Cabin is supposed to solicit laughter without making you feel sick or in need of therapy. Laughing at misfortune is alright; laughing at a person’s gruesome death is worrisome. I was also impressed by the non-Hollywood ending.
The last act could’ve been edited down since it drags on and gets repetitive but Whedon’s story decided to pull out the stops over pacing; diehard Horror fans will be busy counting/figuring out the references. This criticism is a minor due to the overall movie succeeding at amusing, scaring and tricking the audience.
Additional Alamo Drafthouse perks: snippets from Evil Dead 2, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Firefly, trailers from a really awful Sixties flick and the original Buffy and some super dull hypno-wheel.