The Genre Killer

Somebody had the balls to try and kill off an entire genre, and they almost did it. The Cabin In The Woods is the horror movie to destroy all horror movies. There's really no other way to explain this film other than that.

The tough thing about reviewing The Cabin In The Woods is that knowing the slightest thing about it is likely too much. The plot is insanely genius, intricately linked together, and has a massive scope for a horror film. Credit all of this working to writers Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon, who manage to fit this story into a blistering 95 minute run time where no moment seems wasted.

Goddard also directs the film, and it's his first time doing so, though you can hardly tell. He has the confidence of a veteran and handles the scope and the shifting tones of the film, which goes from shocking to funny to a mixture of bother in just a few scenes, easily.

As for plot, this is the insanely bare bones version based on the trailer, which shows the audience a basic horror film set-up. Five kids go to a cabin in the woods that belongs to the cousin of one person in the group. And then, well, if you don't know what inevitably happens, then this really isn't your film. But then it turns out to be so much more than that.

And now it gets tough. What to tell you about if the plot can't be revealed? Well, the performances in the film are all brilliant. All of the five kids are great in their roles, specifically the stoner Marty (Franz Kanz) who steals every scene he is in.

The one person of the group of kids you're likely to recognize is Chris Hemsworth, who played Thor last year and will do later this year for The Avengers, and he's fantastic here as well. The people who walk away with the film though are Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford. To tell you who they play, though, would be a complete spoiling of the plot of this film, but know that they are arguably the best thing in a film full of many great moments and characters.

The most important thing to remember about The Cabin In The Woods is that it is a horror movie that's seemingly trying to kill off the genre. This means that it's often times making fun of horror movies. When viewing the movie no one in the theater seemed to realize that the film was actually making jokes. They seemed mentally prepared for a horror movie and refused to accept it as anything but.

Once you open your mind to the fact that this is the horror movies to end all horror movies then you manage to open your mind to the idea that there is some shocking, but brilliant satire going on even in the moments you should feel squeamish or disturbed. And that's the best way to go into this movie, open minded and with no knowledge of the plot. If you haven't seen the trailer, don't watch it at all. Just go and take it all in and wonder how somebody could have pulled off something this ballsy. You'll never look at a horror movie the same way again.