RE:View: The Cabin in The Woods

*SPOILER FREE* (Which is essential for this!)

The funny thing about current horror movies - or torture porn, as they're often referred to - is the sheer emptiness of them. You pay, you sit down, you watch 90 minutes of kids getting murdered as gruesomely as possible and then you leave. There's no meaning or investment needed, and when truly thought about is a very nihilistic view of morals. Which is where The Cabin in The Woods comes in, to set the records straight and turn the horror flick on its head; but not in the ways you might think...

  Naturally, a bunch of teenagers visit a cabin and realise that all may not be what it seems, but in a sense far detached from your simple supernatural occurrences. Because in this Cabin in The Woods, lies something perhaps even darker than your average slasher tale, as these five are going to find out, at quite a cost.

The affectionate nods and references to
 the classics are a welcome sight.
 For us, anyway...

Why yes, even with that undertone, what I have just described may still sound generic, but believe me when I say this: IT IS NOT. There's this unique counter-perspective to the proceedings that remarkably puts the entire genre in a new light; a spin that melds sweetly and should certainly be kept secret until you've seen the film. Half the enjoyment of Cabin comes with the surprise of this one-of-a-kind story, which isn't even held over you up to the end: just straight up, first scene twist to get the ball rolling (albeit rolling upwards).

The deliberateness of this never feels forced, thanks to the handy work of Drew Goddard (Director/Co-Writer) and Joss Whedon (Writer), who instead throw the loop at a steady, well kept pace. Both sides of the narrative are balanced, allowing enough investment into each set of characters and worlds, despite one half of these being the morbidly optimistic villains and the other a group of familiar yet updated archetypes of teenagers.

And by updated, I mean believable. Because seriously, do you really think teenagers are that dumb to always split up? No, see these guys are smart, forward thinking kids who don't lack the common sense that apparently every other cabin-bound teen does (unless that becomes induced on them, of course...). Such maturity is then reflected with their relatively newbie cast, with Chris Hemsworth as probably the most recognisable due to his whole Thor gig. However, the true standout of these is Fran Kranz as the magnetically charming "Fool", Marty. From this side of the ride, Kranz steals the show with his stoner-yet-wisdom strewn persona, nailing all the damn-right delicious one-liners thrown his way (courtesy of Whedon, I've no doubt). This could well be his star-maker...

On the super-secret flip side, you've got an abundance of unexpected laughs. Again, the undeclared shape of The Cabin in The Woods still surprises with its multi-genre bending ingenuity. While the genuine scares remain ever scarce (sorry fear-fans, this isn't quite the scream fest you're looking for), you can expect plenty of humourous gags and set-ups that may as well have been in a straight-up comedy. Which in fact works better throughout to help detail the subtext lurking underneath the 95 minutes of pure entertainment.

The thing is with Cabin, you don't just walk out with a smile on your face; you're imparted with something overwhelming to ponder upon - How is watching people die fun? How did the genre get to the point where its main selling point was to watch human mutilation? So it takes these ideas and throws them back at the audience. Sure there are some gruesome deaths in here, but they've got weight to them: you've warmed to the character, you don't want to see them die, you feel their loss. In this sense, it isn't so much poking fun at those immoral conventions as it is ripping its stale heart out and presenting it for all to see, via a string of self-aware, mind-screwing metaness.

It may not be to everyone's taste, to be thrust upon with the truth that what you might have wanted from this film (torture porn) is ultimately not right. Though that's what makes it so good, the bluntness of this point, yet the subtlety of its delivery. Some may not even notice it, but still thoroughly love the film, whilst those who totally get it will totally get it AND thoroughly love the film.

So when The Cabin in The Woods reaches its converging third act of bizarre havoc and satisfying plot turn-arounds, and you've come to terms with the fact that this was not necessarily the film you paid for, I'd say you'll be pretty damn glad you were mislead into this soon-to-be classic genre-buster.

Change is good. But an entire overhaul of expectation? Now that's amazing.

5 Stars

ATR

         

RE:Action: Grimm

The new US supernatural/detective series, Grimm, debuted on UK screens last night (via Watch) after enjoying a good 4 month lead in the states.  The show - which features unique, modern day spins on the classic tales of The Brothers Grimm - boasts David Greenwalt as one of its creators, whose previous credits included Buffy and co-creating Angel. Good things were expected, especially with a premise like that in a time where supernatural, urban fantasy and take-a-classic-fairytale-and-put-it-in-current-context are all the rage (see Once Upon A Time, Supernatural, Vampire Diaries etc).

       However, for me I felt this pilot episode was a bit of a mixed bag. Whilst this nice blend of conventions was nice and all, the episode itself was propped up against these inspirations, often borrowing a little too much than it oughta. That may just be me going into it too comparatively with the other shows, but you've got to admit the blatant likeness to Supernatural... Although it can hardly be blamed for this, because after all, it's just trying to find a niche here and prove to the networks that they're worth the budget. And if it takes a few creative clichés to get that, then so be it, at least for the beginning. But I digress...

  At the heart of the episode was Nick, our protagonist who quickly discovers he is of the Grimm blood-line, gifted/cursed with the abilities to spot the hidden creatures of myth and fairytale that murk in our humble societies. Actor David Giuntoli seems like a good fit for the "every man thrown into a world he doesn't yet understand" role, and plays it with an admiral sense of likeability. His ties with his girlfriend and cop-partner look like they could blossom, and the unlikely duo of him and reformed WereWolf, Siras, is what may give the show a true, honest rhythm and heart, as well as a few much needed comedic beats.

 But it's hard to forget the fact that the first half of the hour-long drama was rather lifeless for such a cult-induced show like this. Unfortunately, we're given some bland dialogue (how may times are you going to yell "WHERE IS SHE!"?) and cheese-ridden plot points ("Your parents didn't really die in a crash!" No sh*t...)  that whilst still hold the narrative together fine, don't have you laughing or rooting. Just watching, really. The second half, however, things picked up into a more intense, thought provoking show.

  Which brings me onto the baddie of the pilot; an obvious choice in "The Big Bad Wolf", riffing on the Red Riding Hood tale to a successful effect. The wolf, known as a "BlutBad", presents an eerie representation of the story's modern portrayal: a guy kidnapping a little girl and keeping her in a basement, bordering on grooming her. This slight connotation of paedophilia was a unique angle, and a ballsy one at that, which thankfully paid off in execution. The guy doesn't dress as Grandma, he acts like her; a feminine man in touch with his delicate sensibilities, providing plenty of frightful ideas. And when we see the cop duo go in to take him down, the show amps up the tensions and puts audience on edge in the suspense and terror of it all.

Not so hot... Good make-up though!

The final few scenes give us an indication of some possible story arcs (the Police Chief's a villain, the blonde woman a haggley thing, etc) and reminds us that Grimm has got a 22 episode season ahead, regardless of what went wrong earlier. We see that Nick is a flawed protagonist in the way he jumps the gun in the Hospital and earlier in the arrests, so his character definitely has mileage on it.

Let's also not forget that for a limited budget pilot, the whole thing still looked pretty damn good. Granted, the monster transformations were a bit goofy, but the tranquil woodland house and its interiors were marvellously bright and full of wonder. This fairytale aesthetic which managed to transfer from page to screen creates a neat juxtaposition to that of the gritty police department scenes, serving the show a uniqueness in that respect.

 I think that as long as Grimm can rectify the script/dialogue issues, slowly fleshing out the show's conceivably deep mythology into that of a living, breathing world, then it should see itself well into the next season at least. This wasn't by any way a bad episode, and maybe I was a little too scrutinizing, it's just that for the whole project to survive, it needs to fall away from the crutches of Angel and Supernatural, find its own swing and really shine as an individual programme.

The potential is there; it's got some fresh ideas, gorgeous looks and great action/thriller/horror attributes. So now it's just up to the next few weeks to see whether Grimm can take hold of itself and thrive upon its own merits. Because if it can, then I sure as heck want to be there watching it...


ATR