Big Screen Blurb: The Cabin in the Woods

Take the cast of Scooby Doo. Trade Scooby for a wide receiver and a dog bone to be named later. Add a heaping help of a "slasher" flick and a cup of "unique" plot. What you have is a recipe for the mystery of The Cabin in the Woods, which is well worth firing up the Mystery Machine.

Five collegiates in a remote cabin in the woods. Yeah, I know what you're thinking: Sex, drugs, rock and roll and untimely loss of limbs. Okay--that's pretty much exactly what you get, but there's a lot more to this that takes the stereotypical horror flick to the next level. Meet Dana (Kristen Connolly). She's emerging from an affair with a prof and is kinda ready to get on with her life. Next, there's Jules (Anna Hutchison). She's a tad on the wild and 'let's lose these woolies'-side. Of course, her boyfriend of late is none other than Curt (Chris Hemsworth), a jock who is just out for a good time. Then there's Holden (Jesse Williams). He's a jock, too, but he's got a little intellectual depth to him. Finally, there's Shaggy--I mean, Marty (Fran Kranz). He's a 420 friendly guy who has his friendly on more so than off. So,for our heroes it's off to the cabin to blow off a little steam. Unfortunately, their journey goes a lot deeper than a weekend getaway. Yadayadayada Velma--I mean, Dana unlocks a curse that unleashes some pretty ornery characters and plenty of havoc along the way.

It's pretty good. I'll go with 3.5 Stars. The Cabin in the Woods actually shocked me a bit. It was my least objectionable option in an otherwise drab movie weekend. This one was pretty entertaining! The back-end of the story provides more interest and mystery than the core story involving the college kids, which serves to enhance that storyline as well. Actually, you're kinda drawn into the whole stage in a "What is really going on here?" scene.

Of course, as these flicks do, it reaches that crazy, all-out out of control crescendo, but that quickly becomes quite entertaining as well. Yes, it's got plenty of grotesque slashing, loss of limb-head-cutting off moments for the warped kiddies. Actually, that's something that has always been more of a turn-off in this genre to me. I've always been more drawn to the plot-based suspense thrillers than the blood-and-guts gore of the slasher horror movies. The good news with The Cabin in the Woods is that the back-end story provides enough of that plot-based element that it provided a pretty entertaining experience!

Go Big or Rent it? Hmm...we're in that gray area with this one. If you can't stomach any gore--skip it altogether. If you can man up enough to deal with that, you might enjoy a fairly unique storyline for this genre. Of course, if you're 13 looking for yet another dismemberment movie, well, GO BIG KID!

Enjoy!
True...OUT!