Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s maybe-horror film Cabin in the Woods was a bit impossible to review upon its initial release day, at least for outlets who respected Whedon and co’s wishes to keep the surprise intact for moviegoers. (In fact, my spoiler-free review can be easily distilled down to, “No spoilers. If you like Whedon you’ll like this.”)
But now it’s Monday and those of you who wanted to see it have most likely done so. It’s spoiler time.
Personally, I found the pop culture criticism interesting, which weirdly—per some of the comments in my spoiler-free review of the movie—may be because I’m less familiar with the Whedon-verse than some. Being thrown into (what’s eventually revealed to be) the reality-TV-esque world of Richard Jenkins and Brad Whitford put me on notice for the rest of the story, as they manipulated the group of stereotype-with-a-slight-twist horror characters (the fact that they go out of their way to note that The Blonde is not a real blonde was a nifty touch), in their attempts to placate The Ancient Ones with ritualistic sacrifice. I thought it was a fun exercise in looking at not only the traditions of the horror genre, but traditions in general.
Now, that’s me. What do you all think? Have at it in the comments below.
Danny Bowes is a New York City-based film critic and blogger.
