Cabin in the Woods - Grading, Discussion, Spoilers

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Argus Skyhawk, Apr 14, 2012.

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What did you think of Cabin in the Woods?

  1. Excellent

    45 vote(s)
    56.3%
  2. Good

    26 vote(s)
    32.5%
  3. So-so

    7 vote(s)
    8.8%
  4. Poor

    1 vote(s)
    1.3%
  5. Lousy

    1 vote(s)
    1.3%
  1. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Yeah I'm a huge Whedon fan, but I just didn't find this nearly as clever or original as others apparently did. There were certainly a lot of laughs, but the Truman Show already did the manipulated reality thing, and the "demonic beast that has to be placated" thing was already done several times on Buffy and Angel.

    From the hype I would have sworn there would be a LOT more twists and turns, but that's pretty much all there is-- there's a control center down below that is orchestrating everything, some kids find their way in and create a bunch of havoc, and... that's about it.

    It was a decent, fun little lark, but I don't see anything terribly brilliant or game-changing about it.
     
  2. Mr Light

    Mr Light Admiral Admiral

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    I'll admit, the movie was basically a recycle job of Buffy and Angel, but hey the shows hadn't been on in awhile it was a nice refresher on the big screen :lol:
     
  3. Dark Gilligan

    Dark Gilligan Writer Fleet Captain

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    I wonder if they wanted some distance between Buffy/Angel and the release of Cabin for that very reason, over and above the much-publicized problems with distribution. Cabin was completed four years ago. It's been sitting on a shelf since then. You can certainly see the time gap in the actors' faces, they're four years younger than they are today. Many in the industry believed the film would never be released at all.
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2012
  4. Agenda

    Agenda Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    A lot of people haven't seen Buffy or Angel and wouldn't care in the least.
     
  5. DarthTom

    DarthTom Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I liked it myself. And there a lot of unexpected surprises. My ownly criticism is does Bradley Whitford know how to play any other character except for Josh Lyman form the West Wing?

    For me his acting style comes off as some hybrid of that character and unoriginal.
     
  6. I saw it this weekend and I *loved* it. It was so much fun. Great funny dialogue, very creative way of doing a horror film.

    I do agree that it is derivitive of Buffy/Angel, but I consider that a good thing. The juxtaposition of funny dialogue, clever situations, and not-quite-scary "horror" is very Buffy-esque. I consider that a good thing and I'll take that over generic slasher horror any day of the week. Someone pointed out to me that...

    the last half hour was basically 'Primevil', and in fact the entire organization feels like Joss' re-do of The Initiative, since it came off looking kind of lame in Buffy S4

    I also agree with the comment above that it doesn't matter so much since most of the moviegoing public isn't THAT familiar with Buffy/Angel except in a casual manner.

    I also feel tonally the movie compares favorably with movies like Men in Black, Zombieland, and Scream.
     
  7. Admiral2

    Admiral2 Admiral Admiral

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    Actually, that was one of the reasons I liked it. I was like, "Cool. Josh Lyman in a horror movie." I was happier to see him than the obvious Whedonverse cameos.
     
  8. Shazam!

    Shazam! Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    It was in vials. It wasn't meant to be the blood of the victims.
     
  9. DarthTom

    DarthTom Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Meh, Whitford needs a new shtick IMO. When compare the acting range of Sigourney Weaver in the film versus Whitford's rehash of Lyman - she has him for lunch.
     
  10. Admiral2

    Admiral2 Admiral Admiral

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    Well, yeah, no doubt. Not saying he's better than Sigourney, just that I missed Josh Lyman. I'd have been really stoked if they could have finagled Toby Zeigler, and when the shit hit the fan Toby could scream a lot in that monotone of his.
     
  11. ManOnTheWave

    ManOnTheWave Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Good, though I was leaning towards So So. It was funny, and I enjoyed the visual references to Friday the 13th, Evil Dead, and Hellraiser, etc. I was hoping it would be even funnier and more clever, but as it is, it's still more interesting than, oh, every horror film I've seen in years.
     
  12. chardman

    chardman Vice Admiral In Memoriam

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    So, I feel we've finally seen the main branch of Wolfram and Hart, and damned if Josh Lyman wasn't the office manager. Who knew?

    Loved the inevitable appearance of the mer-man and Whitford's reaction to it.
     
  13. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    Just got back from seeing this a little while ago and I really enjoyed it and was surprised about it as the "men behind the scenes" aspect I did not know about. Kristen Connolly is certainly a looker I'm going to keep my eyes on down the road. The movie was good fun, Hensworth did a good job as well and the movie is certainly filled with Joss Whedon-isms, tropes and sharp writing.

    I really liked the slide-puzzle crypt of monsters, especially the Hellraiser-like monster, and I knew the aquaman monster would show up sooner or later. :lol:

    Good movie, really enjoyed it and, hell, I'd like to see more-done. (And yeah, supposedly, the world ends at the end of this movie but I'm sure that can written-away. ;))


    SPOILERS: I'm not coding it for ease of reading:

    I think the idea was that the subjects only needed to "fill the roles" not actually be those people which is why drugs and other mind-altering stuff was used to manipulate them into the roles. So long as while they're at the cabin and they satisfy the parts the god(s) would be pleased enough to allow the ritual to work.

    The movie's meta-ness in that regard was clever especially the one with the virgin being allowed to survive or die so long as she was the last one in the process. What I found odd is that the movie suggested that the marijuana use of "the fool" negated the mind-altering/manipulative drugs they were using. Which... You'd think they would've have thought of that considering this ritual has been done for such a long time and not once they've encountered a pot-smoker?
     
  14. davejames

    davejames Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Well today's pot IS considered to be a lot stronger than back in the day. Or so I've heard...
     
  15. Brikar99

    Brikar99 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I saw it a second time tonight. Amy Acker's character has a line that I'd missed the first time. She says that her team was supposed to swap out the stoner's pot with their own, but they "missed a batch."
     
  16. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    Ah, okay, I missed that. I liked the guy's telescoping bong disguised as a coffee mug. :lol:
     
  17. IndyJones

    IndyJones Vice Admiral Admiral

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    You obviously never watched The Good Guys.
     
  18. od0_ital

    od0_ital Admiral Admiral

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    Seen it twice now, still awesome the second time, and I noticed more stuff, too.

    Will probably see it again, if a friend of mine is free to get to it next week.
     
  19. Brikar99

    Brikar99 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    That thing was incredible. I want it, and not even to use as a bong... just cuz it's so awesome.

    The crowd in the theater was howling over it, too. This movie got great responses both times I went.
     
  20. Bob The Skutter

    Bob The Skutter Complete Arse Cleft In Memoriam

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    I've now seen it three times. First time it seemed to go down well, second time it seemed my friend and I were the only ones enjoying it and I heard people complaining about how shit it was on leaving. Third time people seemed to love it again. So seems to be a bit of a marmite film.