Some horror movies work because they scare you. Others work because they completely understand the genre they are playing with and then gleefully start setting it on fire. The Cabin in the Woods managed to do both, which is a big part of why it still feels so fresh more than a decade later. It arrived as a surprise in 2012 and has only become more beloved since, but now it’s getting ready to leave Prime.
Directed by Drew Goddard and co-written with Joss Whedon, The Cabin in the Woods begins like a familiar setup: five college students head to a remote cabin for a weekend away. It does not take long for the film to reveal that something much stranger is going on, with the group’s ordeal being manipulated from an underground facility for reasons far bigger and much weirder than they realize.
The cast includes Kristen Connolly as Dana, Chris Hemsworth as Curt, Anna Hutchison as Jules, Fran Kranz as Marty, Jesse Williams as Holden, Richard Jenkins as Sitterson, and Bradley Whitford as Hadley. Sigourney Weaver also has a small but memorable role in the cult classic horror flick.
Lights, Camera, Retraction — The Collider Movie Quiz!
Sometimes actors quit; other times they’re fired. On this first day of spring, we’re recalling some famous roles that got a fresh start with a recast.
Is ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ Worth Watching?
Collider’s review stated that The Cabin in the Woods isn’t just another horror movie — it’s a smart, funny, and brutal takedown of the entire genre. Instead of simply pointing out clichés, the film digs into why those clichés exist and why audiences keep coming back for them. What makes the film stand out is how it balances its satire with actual entertainment. It’s genuinely funny, often violent, and constantly surprising.
“With The Cabin in the Woods, Goddard and Whedon have made a strong rebuke against lazy storytelling by combining the lazy storytellers and lazy audiences into one body (the people at Evil Mission Control) and showing both the arbitrary nature of the plot elements (interchangeable menaces like creepy children and ghouls and clowns) and the glee and comfort we take in predictability of the structure (teens must die, they must die gruesomely, they have to die in particular order, etc). Few filmmakers will devise a horror film as blazingly original, remarkably intelligent, and painfully funny as The Cabin in the Woods, but it’s time for them to at least start trying.”
The Cabin in the Woods leaves Prime Video on March 31.
- Release Date
-
April 13, 2012
- Runtime
-
95 minutes
- Director
-
Drew Goddard
-
Kristen Connolly
Dana Polk
-
Fran Kranz
Marty Mikalski
