If An Old Man Warns You Not To Go There, Do Not Go There \u2013 \u2018The Cabin in the Woods<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
The movie begins with two men, Hadley and Sitterson, discussing matters like child-proofing cabinets and fertility. This makes the premise feel quite ambiguous as they are seen in a facility that looks like it could deal with tech or research. The audience is confused here because what could two engineers have to do with a movie called \u2018The Cabin in the Woods?<\/p>\n
Wendy Lin joins in on the conversation and talks about Stockholm \u2018going south\u2019, leaving only Japan and the USA in the game. Betting pools are mentioned and the matter feels like it is something important but the situation is under control. Suddenly, the logo of the movie pops up with a scream, contrasting the more official, industrial vibe of the scene. This makes the audience aware of the fact that \u2018The Cabin in the Woods is probably not a typical slasher movie that you would see. Something bigger than simply getting attacked by supernatural killers is at play here.<\/p>\n
The movie introduces Dana, Jules, Curt, Marty, and Holden, the lead cast. Dana comes off as an introverted, guarded girl but turns out, she has dated and slept with her professor. Curt is a studious guy who is a Sociology major. Jules has colored her hair blonde and is acting like a stereotypical \u2018ditzy blonde\u2019 character. Marty is a stoner, while Holden is intelligent and scholarly. In an RV, they are heading towards a cabin in the woods owned by Curt\u2019s cousin.<\/p>\n
It plays on several popular horror tropes, the most obvious one being a bunch of youngsters going to a secluded area and staying in a cabin as seen in movies like \u2018Cabin Fever. They also come across a suspicious man on the way, which is another classic trope, popularly seen in movies such as \u2018House of Wax\u2019 and the \u2018Texas Chainsaw Massacre series. On reaching the place, they seem to admire the cabin and some sexual tension is built between Dana and Holden as they see one another undressing from the opposite ends of the one-sided mirror. Right then, the scene again shifts to the industrial setting of the facility and we see that it is like a reality TV show, where everything is being arranged by the engineers in the facility for reasons unknown. From the conversations, we find out that these scientists are pulling strings to increase the sexual libido of Jules via her blonde hair dye.<\/p>\n
They get a call from a man who talks about things such as lambs, killers, and god\u2019s fools. It is really very confusing at this point but this event foreshadows what is about to come. Meanwhile, the entire cabin is a zone controlled by the facility, as the people bet on the upcoming events that are going to take place in the cabin.<\/p>\n
The gang plays truth or dare while drinking. Jules is made to flirt and make out with the head of a wolf stuck to a wall, that was probably from a hunt and taxidermized. The cellar door pops open all of a sudden and they all head downstairs, reinforcing another stereotypical horror trope where people deliberately follow danger. In there they find a diary, a dancing doll, oriental dolls, a conch shell, an orb-like device and a necklace amongst other stuff. Dana reads the diary which talks about a girl with one hand, living within a problematic family dynamic. Some Latin phrases are mentioned and she reads them aloud even though Marty advises against it. Cut to the fake forest and we see something emerging from the ground.<\/p>\n
Back at the facility, some people are disappointed that the zombies came to life instead of the other creatures they had bet on. The computer screens show something similar taking place in other countries such as Kyoto in Japan. Rangoon in Myanmar and Berlin in Germany are shown with the notification of \u2018FAIL\u2019 popping on the screen.<\/p>\n
The cast is once again in the living room, having fun. Jules is portrayed as a very sexual woman as she flirts with the other men in the room. Weirdly, her boyfriend Curt is quite cool with her behaving in a promiscuous way. The two of them go outside the house together to let off some steam caused by their artificially increased libido.<\/p>\n
Marty the stoner finds it awkward that a guy who is into academics is suddenly acting like a typical high school jock portrayed in movies (with his Letterman jacket and excessive beer drinking) while someone like Jules is acting slutty. Interestingly enough, after working on this movie, co-writer Joss Whedon ended up choosing Chris Hemsworth as Thor.<\/p>\n
Holden is seen putting on glasses and reading Latin while we find out that Dana is \u2018like a virgin\u2019, even though she really isn\u2019t, but it is enforced.<\/p>\n
Jules and Curt are in the forest and he tries to have sex with her. She feels awkward doing it in a weird place plus she feels that the atmosphere is chilly. The engineers regulate the temperature and lighting while setting off a pheromone mist to get Jules more turned on. As the two try to have sex while the men use it as a source of fanservice, the members of the Zombie Redneck Torture Family attack them. In the end, Jules is killed and Curt comes running back to the cabin, bloodied.<\/p>\n
He alerts everyone. One of the zombies shows them Jules\u2019 severed head. With more weird chemicals being let into the room, everyone\u2019s rationality is affected except Marty\u2019s, probably due to the weed. As the zombie’s attack, they\u2019re all locked individually in their rooms. Marty runs into the electrical wirings and realizes that they are in a reality TV-like situation when another zombie presumably gets to him. After every death, blood pours into a silhouette but we do not get to see what it signifies until the very end.<\/p>\n
The facility shows the scientists who are pissed off about every country failing in their activity to get everyone killed, following Japan\u2019s loss. At the cabin, Curt, Dana, and Holden set off to escape the place in their RV. After crossing some distance, they stumble upon a huge ditch. Curt plans to cross it on his bike and return with help but even though his leap looks long enough to take him across, he hits an invisible wall and plummets into the abyss. Dana realizes that something is controlling them, which is something Marty had mentioned before on seeing everyone\u2019s apparent change in behavior. The both of them head in a different direction in the RV when a zombie attacks Holden, killing him.<\/p>\n
The scientists observe the situation and think that Dana is the only one left alive, the party. Suddenly, their party comes to a halt when they find out that Marty is still alive, ruining their flow.<\/p>\n
Dana and Marty head back towards the cabin as he tells her about everything being orchestrated and shows her into an elevator. They go downstairs and see a creature holding the orb from the cellar. As the camera pans out, we see several other creatures such as the blob, a giant lady, werewolves, zombies, mermen, unicorns, dolls, witches, and several others.<\/p>\n
Turns out that no matter what happens, Dana cannot die before Marty. The reason is still kept ambiguous.<\/p>\n
An assault team is sent to eliminate them and they hide in the control room. Dana pushes all the buttons and that gives way to the most intense and gory scene of the movie – the Purge. The cages open and all the deadly creatures attack the team, ripping them into shreds. There\u2019s a huge basilisk like a snake, winged creatures, unicorns, clowns, mutants, reptiles, Hell Lords from Hellraiser, Kevin from Sin City, you name it.<\/p>\n
The place turns into a bloodbath and we also get to see Patience, the girl who wrote in the diary that Dana read out loud. The creatures break into the control room and Hadley is eaten by a merman.<\/p>\n
In the end, Dana and Marty enter a room downstairs that looks like a place for occult-like rituals. A woman, who is the director, comes out and explains everything to them. The five silhouettes where blood poured in after each death represented a trope – the whore; Jules, the athlete; Curt, the scholar; Holden, the fool; Marty, and the virgin; Dana. Even though they weren\u2019t exactly akin to the particular stereotypes, the facility had to make do with what they had. They used methods to make them act accordingly and offered them as sacrifices to the ancient ones, preventing them from resurfacing and taking over the world.<\/p>\n
According to the rules, the whore dies first and the virgin dies last. They had eight minutes left to die otherwise humanity would be doomed. However, the virgin could be kept alive.<\/p>\n
Dana decides to kill off Marty because the entire world was at stake but she gets attacked by a werewolf. In the end, the director is killed by Patience, and Dana and Marty let the Ancient Ones re-rise, leading to the end of humanity.<\/p>\n
Horror movies are often plagued with stereotypes such as the ones we already mentioned and \u2018The Cabin in the Woods\u2019 plays on those tropes, reinforcing them, as it is all part of something way bigger. With monotony taking over the horror genre, writers Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon tried to bring something fresh to the game, to help horror rise back from their plummeting reputation in the film industry. They wrote the script after locking themselves in a room for three days, giving rise to the first draft. It is also home to a wide range of pop culture references with its doll-like creatures, clowns, werewolves, and other beings. It would\u2019ve been particularly amazing if we got to see the creatures from well-established horror movies such as Pennywise from \u2018It\u2019, Leatherface from \u2018Texas Chainsaw Massacre\u2019, Freddy Kruger from \u2018The Nightmare in the Elm Street\u2019, Jack Torrance from \u2018The Shining\u2019, The Pale Man from \u2018the Pan\u2019s Labyrinth\u2019, and so on. But that would probably require a heavy dose of legalities, so similar creatures were used to give the audience a similar taste.<\/p>\n