Cabin in the Woods and the Fine Line of Meta-Movies

Hey, everyone. I'm going to spoil CABIN IN THE WOODS now. 

CABIN IN THE WOODS is an okay film with great ideas. I went in, taking everyone's advice, spoiler free, the only thing I knew being it was "genre bending" and brilliant. Since there was so much hype over it, I was expecting something exciting, thrilling, and unique. When the film was over I realized that it wasn't necessarily genre-bending, but just a deconstruction of a genre that had a certain "fuck you, audience" edge. I loved the idea. That aspect of the film is brilliant, but still, I couldn't help but disagree with everyone I had read. I didn't find it exciting or thrilling at all and I actually found myself bored at times. So I left the theater really confused. Why didn't I like CABIN IN THE WOODS that much having absolutely loved the idea behind it?

After thinking about it for a few days, I finally understand why and how I was so blah about the film: It's relying too much on its idea to give the film any weight and because of that, it's almost impossible to really experience the film. It's so distancing that, instead of experiencing the film as it plays, we're only thinking about the film.

I feel you, Charlie.

Part of this is because CABIN IN THE WOODS is such a meta-movie. Meta-movies are meant for thinking about the film, admittedly, but that doesn't make experiencing it as well mutually exclusive. Take Jonze and Kaufman's ADAPTATION, another meta-movie. While we watch it, we are constantly thinking about the film (what is fact, what is fiction), but we are still engaged with Charile Kaufman's character. We're able to relate to his struggle for artistic integrity, and when the film does become the typical, thoughtless blockbuster Kaufman has tried to avoid throughout the whole film, we get a sense of  his catharsis while realizing the point the film is making (For the record, I think it's asking us to choose which part of the film we find more interesting). We're able to feel what Kaufman is feeling. We're experiencing it and we care even though the distance that comes from all things meta is present.

CABIN IN THE WOODS, on the other hand, is all about distance. And when it wants us to be engaged, its unable to show up. It's impotent.

"What? No!"

Take the parts in the film when we actively see the two puppeteers manipulate the cabin and the people in it. When Thor is gassed and says "I think we should split up," you aren't yelling at him going, "No! Don't do that! That's stupid, Thor," and worrying about his well-being. You're going, "Oh I get it. They have to split up because that is a bad idea and ultimately that will cause some of the deaths that everyone wants to see because this is a horror movie." Or how about when Thor and his Dumb Blonde girlfriend go out in the redneck-family-zombie infested woods and are manipulated into having sex, you aren't going, "Get out of there, Thor and Thor's girlfriend! There is a horde of redneck-family-zombies in the same woods you are having sex!" Instead, you're going, "Oh, right. This is the typical environment with the typical stereotyped characters in the typical situation that's in typical horror movies." You aren't worried about any of the characters because you don't care. All you're thinking about is the idea behind the actions.

But CABIN IN THE WOODS seems like it wants you to care about what's going on. The horror scenes are played out like any other horror scene, but just don't connect. One of the more confusing scenes is when the group goes down to the basement and start messing with all of the trinkets down there. The Dumb Blonde is about to put on a necklace, the Stoner is turning a music box, Thor is about to blow in a conch... The music is chilling, the camera moves in close to the objects, everything is slowed down... I guess we're supposed to be scared and tense here, but we don't know what any of these objects mean. The film is telling us that these things are important, but we don't know why and it isn't until the (pseudo) Virgin reads the diary and the redneck-family-zombies come out of the ground that these objects mean anything, but at that point, the scene is over and has become a missed opportunity. It's just limp.

"I WISH THIS MOVIE WAS BETTER!"

That said, there is one place in the film where we're able to think about the film and experience it. When the two puppeteers (I don't know what else to call them) realize that the cave hasn't collapsed leaving an opening for the characters to leave, it's exciting. It's one of the only times where there's tension. The interesting thing (and the point) is that in this scene we are actually rooting for the "bad guys" to collapse the cave. We want those twenty-somethings to be trapped. Here, the film is actually saying something about the horror genre while also letting us experience the film. We can think about it and experience it. This is where CABIN IN THE WOODS gets it right.

So it's a shame that the rest of the execution of its idea really keeps CABIN IN THE WOODS from becoming something really great. It's also a shame that it relies too heavily on it's idea to propel the action. But still, the idea behind it is fantastic, and there is still some fun to be had in the third act (I'm waiting for the first unicorn horror film to be made).