Cabin in the Woods (2012)

When it’s over, the cabin is the tip of the iceberg.  Filmmaker Joss Whedon’s paranormal slasher has a group of college students spending the weekend in a secluded cabin, where nothing is as it seems.  The film’s freaky, grotesque, and never has a dull moment.  This is one of the few films I’ve seen that’s been unpredictable throughout, which keeps the viewer expecting and guessing, and the viewer never really knows the whole story until the very end.  There is plenty of surprises, which makes talking about CITW difficult, since I don’t want to give anything away.  The twists and turns are what make the film work, so if you haven’t seen it and want to see it, don’t read too much about it or listen in on conversations about it.  You want to go into it knowing nothing, except that it takes place in a cabin in the woods.  You’ll be thankful for the surprises.  As much as I admire Whedon’s work, I think he failed to do one crucial thing in CITW, which was offer more backstory on the origins of the cabin and its mysterious inhabitants.  In the end, I had so many questions, and wished the film had tied up the loose ends.  There isn’t much to say in the acting department, since as long as the actors can scream and run, they’ll do fine.  However, Chris Hemsworth is the headliner for this film, since he has the most prominent face following his success in Thor (2011).  Hemsworth originally signed on several years back, before signing Thor, but due to production delays, CITW got pushed back and he ended up filming Thor before CITW. 

My rating: 3.5 out of 5