Misplaced Pages

The Cabin in the Woods

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Everyone Dies In the End (talk | contribs) at 04:51, 15 April 2012 (Reverted edits by 204.237.92.193 (talk) to last version by 24.113.93.85). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Revision as of 04:51, 15 April 2012 by Everyone Dies In the End (talk | contribs) (Reverted edits by 204.237.92.193 (talk) to last version by 24.113.93.85)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) 2012 Template:Film US film
The Cabin in the Woods
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDrew Goddard
Written byDrew Goddard
Joss Whedon
Produced byJoss Whedon
StarringKristen Connolly
Chris Hemsworth
Anna Hutchison
Fran Kranz
Jesse Williams
Richard Jenkins
Bradley Whitford
CinematographyPeter Deming
Edited byLisa Lassek
Music byDavid Julyan
Production
company		Mutant Enemy Productions
Distributed byLionsgate
Release date
  • April 13, 2012 (2012-04-13)
Running time95 minutes
CountryTemplate:Film US
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million

The Cabin in the Woods is a 2012 horror film co-written and directed by Drew Goddard and co-written and produced by Joss Whedon. It stars Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Jesse Williams, Anna Hutchison, and Fran Kranz. The film was released on April 13, 2012.

Plot

Two technicians in a sophisticated industrial facility—Richard Sitterson (Richard Jenkins) and Steve Hadley (Bradley Whitford)—are getting ready for an unknown operation.

Meanwhile, five college students—Dana (Kristen Connolly), Curt (Chris Hemsworth), Jules (Anna Hutchison), Marty (Fran Kranz), and Holden (Jesse Williams)—drive out for a vacation to a remote cabin in the woods, while the technicians keep an eye on the students with hidden cameras

At the cabin, the friends party until they find a cellar full of creepy old artifacts. Dana reads an incantation from an old diary, which causes zombies to rise from the grave, and it is also seen that the technicians, who have been watching them via hidden cameras, have been excitedly betting on which of a long list of different monsters would be chosen, with those betting on Zombies winning due to Dana's actions.

Curt and Jules go outside to have sex while the technicians manipulate events via drugs flowing from vents, to bring about their desired conclusion. Zombies attack the lovers and Jules is killed. Meanwhile, in the cabin, the paranoid Marty begins to feel as if things are being controlled by "puppeteers" and goes outside, where he runs into the fleeing Curt and a zombie. The friends attempt to barricade the cabin against the zombies while the technicians attempt to bring about their deaths. Marty finds a surveillance camera in his room, confirming his paranoid fantasies, but he is attacked and presumably killed off-screen. Holden, Dana, and Curt flee in their RV.

They get as far as a long mountain tunnel but the technicians blow up the tunnel and the escape route is blocked. Curt uses his motorbike to jump the gap in the exit road but as he jumps, he runs into an enormous force field that kills him, and Holden and Dana realize something much greater is happening than they had believed. Dana now believes Marty's talk of "puppeteers." A zombie kills Holden and the RV crashes into the lake. The technicians drink in celebration that they have completed the "ritual," while the screens in the background show Dana fighting for her life with the zombie. The party soon stops when a phone call from "upstairs" informs them that Marty is still alive, and he rescues Dana.

It turns out that Marty came across a hidden control box near the cabin from which he was able to access an elevator with glass walls. He and Dana take it down to the facility where the technicians are, and as they do so, they pass by a number of monsters, each of which corresponds to an artifact from the cellar. Their glass elevator is but one of many pods, each containing its own monster. Dana and Marty escape the elevator but are cornered by a SWAT team. To escape, they release all the monsters in all the pods, who start killing off everyone in the facility.

Dana and Marty find a large crypt with strange tablets and meet the "Director" (Sigourney Weaver as herself). She tells them the reason for the ritual is to appease gods called "The Ancient Ones" who live beneath the facility and want the annual sacrifice of five young people who comprise certain archetypes: The Athlete, The Whore, The Scholar, The Fool, and The Virgin. The Ancient Ones will rise and destroy the world unless the ritual is completed, meaning that Marty must die before sunrise. The Director urges Dana to kill Marty in order to save all of humanity.

Dana aims her gun at Marty but hesitates. The Director tries to kill Marty while Dana is attacked by a werewolf. Marty saves her and the Director is attacked by a zombie and Marty knocks both zombie and Director off the platform and into the abode of the Ancient Ones.

Marty sits and comforts Dana while also lighting a joint. He then remarks that this course of action might be for the best, that it might be better for someone else to get a chance at life. Morning comes and Marty and Dana hold each other as a gigantic hand from one of the Ancient Ones rises up and destroys the facility and cabin.

Cast

Production

The project began filming in March 2009 and completed on May 29, 2009, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Joss Whedon co-wrote the script with Cloverfield screenwriter Drew Goddard, who also directed the film, marking his directorial debut. Goddard previously worked with Whedon on both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel as a writer.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on November 3, 2010, but the film was still released as one of MGM's last pre-Spyglass films in development.

Whedon described the film as an attempt to revitalize the horror genre which he, along with director/co-writer Goddard, felt had "devolved" with the introduction of "torture porn". He called it a "loving hate letter" to the genre continuing

On another level it's a serious critique of what we love and what we don't about horror movies. I love being scared. I love that mixture of thrill, of horror, that objectification/identification thing of wanting definitely for the people to be all right but at the same time hoping they’ll go somewhere dark and face something awful. The things that I don't like are kids acting like idiots, the devolution of the horror movie into torture porn and into a long series of sadistic comeuppances. Drew and I both felt that the pendulum had swung a little too far in that direction.

Release

The Cabin in the Woods was slated for wide release on February 5, 2010 and then delayed until January 14, 2011 so the film could be converted to 3D. However, on June 17, 2010, MGM announced that the film would be delayed indefinitely due to ongoing financial difficulties at the studio.

On March 16, 2011, the Los Angeles Times reported the following: "New (MGM) chief executives Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum are seeking to sell both (a) Red Dawn (remake) and the horror film The Cabin in the Woods, the last two pictures produced under a previous regime, as they try to reshape the 87-year-old company." A distribution sale to Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation was announced on April 28, 2011, with some industry news outlets reporting plans for a Halloween 2011 release. On July 20, 2011, Lionsgate announced that they had acquired the distribution rights to the film and set a release date of April 13, 2012.

The film had its world premiere at the South by Southwest film festival on Friday, March 9, 2012.

Reception

The Cabin in the Woods has received a positive critical reception; based on 140 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds a 93% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 7.9/10. The reviewers for Spill.com praised the film, calling it a "game-changer" and saying it was on par with classic genre-bending horror films like Evil Dead II.

Film critic Roger Ebert gave The Cabin in the Woods three stars out of four, and commented "The Cabin in the Woods has been constructed almost as a puzzle for horror fans to solve. Which conventions are being toyed with? Which authors and films are being referred to? Is the film itself an act of criticism?"

References

  1. ^ "Lionsgate Schedules THE CABIN IN THE WOODS for April 13, 2012". Collider. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
  2. "THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 2012-03-22. Retrieved 2012-04-13.
  3. "Joss Whedon's The Cabin in the Woods to Feature Creatures?". Dreadcentral.com. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  4. Barnes, Brooks. "The Cabin in the Woods". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  5. ^ Reynolds, Simon (10 March 2009). "Five more go to 'Cabin In The Woods'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 10 March 2009.
  6. Kit, Borys (21 January 2009). "Two feel Joss Whedon's 'Cabin' pressure". The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 21 January 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  7. Fernandez, Jay A. (22 March 2009). "'Stomp the Yard' actor lands two film roles". The Hollywood Reporter. Nielsen Business Media. Retrieved 23 March 2009.
  8. "'The Cabin in the Woods' a Creature Feature?!". Bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  9. http://www.totalfilm.com/news/joss-whedon-talks-the-cabin-in-the-woods
  10. Lee, Patrick (7 January 2009). "Joss Whedon is now working with Tom Cruise. Horrors? Yes!". Sci Fi Wire. SCI FI. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  11. "Whedon's Cabin in the Woods Going 3D in '11". Comingsoon.net. 9 October 2009. Retrieved 9 October 2009.
  12. "Whedon's CABIN moves ahead a year…into the third dimension". Fangoria.
  13. "Joss Whedon's Cabin in the Woods may be MGM's next casualty". Cinemablend.com. 2010-06-17. Retrieved 2010-10-04.
  14. "MGM To Morph Into A Pure Production Play?". Deadline.com.
  15. Fritz, Ben; Horn, John (16 March 2011). "Reel China: Hollywood tries to stay on China's good side". Los Angeles Times.
  16. "Joss Whedon's 'Cabin In The Woods' With 'Thor's Chris Hemsworth Going To Lionsgate". Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  17. "The Cabin in the Woods Coming October 28?". Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  18. "SXSW: 'Cabin in the Woods' kills at premiere. Just don't talk about it!". Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  19. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_cabin_in_the_woods/
  20. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120411/REVIEWS/120419993/

External links

Joss Whedon
Television
Films
Written
Directed
Comics
Written
Created
Web
Family
Related
Categories: