Cabin in the Woods
I just saw it for the second time this afternoon...
SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING BELOW THE CUT, DO NOT CLICK IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT, YOU'LL RUIN IT FOR YOURSELF, OMG!
Cabin in the Woods
Or: A Debate on the Individualist Nature of US Society
< / incredible pretentiousness >
< er, kinda >
Anyway, that's what I got out of it. I thought Marty and Dana's decision at the end was incredibly stupid and selfish and--this part I'm a bit shakier on--that it was meant to be seen that way. I thought even earlier on, when they were unleashing the horror movie beasts on the relatively innocent government workers we were meant to begin to lose sympathy for them, especially since they had been told, kind of, what was going on. I think that same theme was nicely illustrated first in the bit where the Rambler is racing for the uncollapsed tunnel, and you suddenly aren't sure if you're rooting for the kids or the government workers. I think it's interesting to contrast Marty and Dana's behavior with what would have happened in the same situation in, say, Japan.
I really liked the movie overall. I enjoyed the fact that while it was meta--sometimes uncomfortably so, such as when the movie is poking fun at our lurid interest in the boobies and then murder of Jules--it managed to move on from that and make a larger point, so it didn't just rest on being a horror movie parody. And of course, I loved the government guys, especially the part where they're dancing along to the college kids' music. And the merman bit, "Oh, you have got to be kidding me." And the unicorn. Because, well... unicorn.
I don't know how well it held up as a horror movie... in fact, I really don't think it did. It started too slow and ended too sci-fi. I don't know if that hurts the movie or not, though, since I was with them the whole way. I'm not a huge fan of horror, however, so just getting the bit in the middle was plenty of that stuff for me... I wouldn't have even gone to see it without the Joss/Drew angle.
Speaking of which, I was also pleasantly surprised that I mostly didn't know how it was going to end, in spite of my familiarity with Joss's work. I did have an inkling that the cute, spunky girl would make it out okay, and I thought the stoner would be safe, although I admit I didn't see his triumphant return coming at all. In fact, speaking of surprises, it blew my mind a little when Curt hit that barrier in the middle of the motorcycle jump--which I feel slightly stupid about, since, HELLO, we KNEW IT WAS THERE. Somehow, though, I got all swept up in the rising music and the heroic dialogue and totally forgot about it until BAM.
The whole the-stoner-really-does-see-things-more-clearly angle was a little trite, but I think they lampshaded it enough to make that okay. One thing I didn't like was how, while Dana's status as a "virgin" was questioned, Jules' status as a "whore" really wasn't ever. And yes, I know there were plenty of references to her being dumbed down with hair dye and such, but I didn't think that went far enough. Also, it annoyed me how the various characters kept getting so hurt they could barely crawl... and then as soon as the immediate crisis was over they would jump up and run away like they were fine. And let's face it, the effects could have been better, generally, although I think that kind of breakdown is inevitable given how many different things they were trying to do there at the end.
Anyone else seen it?
For those that want to know without being spoiled: Yes, it is pretty gory in places, but it is all over-the-top horror movie gore, so for me, it wasn't too disturbing. YMMV. Also, no, it's not just a horror movie, but that is all I will say outside a cut.
ETA: Anyone else notice that the IMDB message boards are really annoying, both in terms of technical stuff and content? Sheesh.
SPOILERS FOR EVERYTHING BELOW THE CUT, DO NOT CLICK IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT, YOU'LL RUIN IT FOR YOURSELF, OMG!
Cabin in the Woods
Or: A Debate on the Individualist Nature of US Society
< / incredible pretentiousness >
< er, kinda >
Anyway, that's what I got out of it. I thought Marty and Dana's decision at the end was incredibly stupid and selfish and--this part I'm a bit shakier on--that it was meant to be seen that way. I thought even earlier on, when they were unleashing the horror movie beasts on the relatively innocent government workers we were meant to begin to lose sympathy for them, especially since they had been told, kind of, what was going on. I think that same theme was nicely illustrated first in the bit where the Rambler is racing for the uncollapsed tunnel, and you suddenly aren't sure if you're rooting for the kids or the government workers. I think it's interesting to contrast Marty and Dana's behavior with what would have happened in the same situation in, say, Japan.
I really liked the movie overall. I enjoyed the fact that while it was meta--sometimes uncomfortably so, such as when the movie is poking fun at our lurid interest in the boobies and then murder of Jules--it managed to move on from that and make a larger point, so it didn't just rest on being a horror movie parody. And of course, I loved the government guys, especially the part where they're dancing along to the college kids' music. And the merman bit, "Oh, you have got to be kidding me." And the unicorn. Because, well... unicorn.
I don't know how well it held up as a horror movie... in fact, I really don't think it did. It started too slow and ended too sci-fi. I don't know if that hurts the movie or not, though, since I was with them the whole way. I'm not a huge fan of horror, however, so just getting the bit in the middle was plenty of that stuff for me... I wouldn't have even gone to see it without the Joss/Drew angle.
Speaking of which, I was also pleasantly surprised that I mostly didn't know how it was going to end, in spite of my familiarity with Joss's work. I did have an inkling that the cute, spunky girl would make it out okay, and I thought the stoner would be safe, although I admit I didn't see his triumphant return coming at all. In fact, speaking of surprises, it blew my mind a little when Curt hit that barrier in the middle of the motorcycle jump--which I feel slightly stupid about, since, HELLO, we KNEW IT WAS THERE. Somehow, though, I got all swept up in the rising music and the heroic dialogue and totally forgot about it until BAM.
The whole the-stoner-really-does-see-things-more-clearly angle was a little trite, but I think they lampshaded it enough to make that okay. One thing I didn't like was how, while Dana's status as a "virgin" was questioned, Jules' status as a "whore" really wasn't ever. And yes, I know there were plenty of references to her being dumbed down with hair dye and such, but I didn't think that went far enough. Also, it annoyed me how the various characters kept getting so hurt they could barely crawl... and then as soon as the immediate crisis was over they would jump up and run away like they were fine. And let's face it, the effects could have been better, generally, although I think that kind of breakdown is inevitable given how many different things they were trying to do there at the end.
Anyone else seen it?
For those that want to know without being spoiled: Yes, it is pretty gory in places, but it is all over-the-top horror movie gore, so for me, it wasn't too disturbing. YMMV. Also, no, it's not just a horror movie, but that is all I will say outside a cut.
ETA: Anyone else notice that the IMDB message boards are really annoying, both in terms of technical stuff and content? Sheesh.