I was hearing a ton of rave review's about "Cabin in the Woods" so my assistant Adam and I decided to check it out this afternoon. As a pure movie reviewer, I think the majority of horror flick lovers will find this to be an instant cult classic. I also think it will do pretty well in the box office.
While Adam liked it, I didn't for a number of reasons:
1. It suffers from an identity crisis because tries to do too much. While it tries to be scary, it also tries to be a comedy. Overall however, I would say this is mostly a comedy, but some of the scenes were so brutal, it could never really be considered a comedy. On the other hand many of the scenes were wayyyy too comedic, not of real humor, but more of the slapstick goofy kind. It didn't mesh well.
2. It also attempts to pay homage to most classic horror movies- too much so, and it is distracting. While it has a clever theme- it didn't stand on its on legs as much as it could so to speak.
3. Its too clever for its own cleverness. The way a certain pair of characters spoke in the movie it was almost as if the writers were saying to the audience "See how clever we are?" over and over. Also, without giving away too many spoilers, the fact that theme was so widespread (all over the world) kinda thing.…come on…
4. Felt like they were imitating Sam Raimi, instead of channeling him (which I think was their main aim).
5. It is hard for me to enjoy any movie that overly condones or promotes the worship of the opposite of God if you know what I mean. I think this is what I had the hardest time with… it didn't feel right- even on a purely entertainment level.
I think most horror movie goers who find it easier to overlook these 5 issues will enjoy it, in theaters as well as on DVD, but my advice to family and friends will be to skip it. |
