Best of the 2010s – 2012 – Cabin in the Woods

The setup is achingly familiar. A disparate group of five college students head up to a cabin in the middle of nowhere. There are dark portents that they ignore, and when they descend into the basement, they discover a plethora of strange objects, and a dark curse on one of them leads to horrific consequences.

Except, of course, this isn’t quite that simple. This is a self-aware age, and the mechanisms behind the ritual teenage carnage get explored in depth as events play out and get more and more out of control. “Cabin in the Woods” remains a pure ridiculous entertaining pleasure, even down to the pavlovian glee of seeing something else spectacular show up with every “ding” at the end of the film. (and yes, I’m trying to avoid spoilers despite the film being 7 years old because, dammit, this is still a film that is fun and surprising and I would never ruin anybody else’s joy in discovery unless I accidentally did). And it’s weird and witty and playful and just a little bit thoughtful. It’s for anybody who’s ever loved horror movies or who wants to know why other people might love them.