[Editorial] 10 Years Later: The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Contains spoilers.

A meta-slasher-comedy that executes being scary, funny and thoughtful, and manages to both reward horror fans for their insider knowledge and chide us for thinking we know what will happen next.

The Cabin in the Woods (2011) follows two sets of characters simultaneously. First, we meet the office workers, who are preparing a horror movie scenario to offer up a group of college kids to the Ancient Ones, the world’s oldest beings, who demand specific ritual sacrifices. Hadley, Sitterson, and Lin are in charge of different aspects of the ritual, and they have colleagues we do not get to know. They are clearly implementing a large project with numerous moving parts. In the planned ritual, victims choose how to transgress, and are therefore punished in order to save the world. Next, we meet the college kids/sacrifices. Dana, a sensitive brunette, is signaled right away as our Final Girl. Then Jules, the sexy blonde, and her sporty boyfriend Curt; followed by Holden, the brainy and hopeful love interest for Dana; and finally Marty, the loner stoner. The movie follows both groups’ stories, the college kids trying to survive supernatural terror, and the office workers trying to sacrifice the college kids so the world doesn’t end. Both sides work against each other, driven by their own survival instincts. While the film often changes perspectives between the two sets of characters, it’s never jarring. The parallel stories mirror each other in action and intensity, and the choices of each group affects the other. 

The Cabin in the Woods takes an unusual approach to a typical slasher setup. The college kids ignore the harbinger at the gas station, they drink and use drugs, and the first ones to die are the ones having sex. While the characters are meant to represent particular slasher-movie tropes, they are quite multifaceted. Right away, we learn Dana was sleeping with her professor, unlike a virginal Final Girl would do. Curt and Holden are both equally scholarly and athletic, but Curt is pushed into the “jock” role and Holden is highlighted for his academics, because the ritual demands the separation of those talents. Though Marty smokes a lot of pot, he’s much more tuned-in to the world around him than he might seem. Jules is a thoughtful and supportive friend to Dana, but once she dyes her hair blonde, she is pushed into the role of “the sexy one.” 

Another unique aspect of The Cabin in the Woods is its take on masculinity, particularly interesting for a horror film written and directed by men. In this story, men are not rewarded for their masculinity. For example, Curt is manipulated into being the “jock,” and so it’s not completely his fault, but his show of masculinity leads to his death. He makes a very masculine speech before he tries to jump the cavern on his dirtbike. He says he is “coming back with cops and choppers and guns...for Jules.” And despite all his bravado, he dies horribly,  his friends stranded. In a scene with a different tone, the very first lines in the movie are Sitterson and Hadley, both male, talking about hormone therapy as Hadley and his wife are trying to have a baby. Hadley is making jokes about how the hormones are affecting his wife, but he is obviously anxious about the possibility of becoming - or not becoming - a parent. Sitterson listens but doesn’t really joke back, so Hadley is allowed to be vulnerable and process aloud. It reminds the audience that these men are people with full lives and experiences, not just the office drones sending kids to die, and it is refreshing to hear men talking about fatherhood in horror. 

The Cabin in the Woods was written by Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon, who had worked together on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and Angel (1999-2004), and Goddard was just coming off the success of writing Cloverfield (2008). In interviews, Whedon has called The Cabin in the Woods his “loving hate letter” to horror movies, highlighting what he loves about the genre, and criticizing what he doesn’t. He has said he hoped to revitalize the slasher subgenre. It’s true that in the previous decade, there were not many slashers, outside of remakes and a handful original films. There had been pretty much every other kind of horror - ghost stories, possession, torture porn, new French exremity, J-horror, and zombies...but not many slashers or stories about friends going into the woods. It could be that this movie was created out of frustration at the current trends in horror. For example, at one point in the film, when the office workers realize Japan's sacrifice has failed, Hadley says, “You want good product, you gotta buy American,” which can be read as a direct attack on J-horror. 

As always, it’s likely that cultural forces at the time influenced the story. Some college kids go off for a fun weekend, are tortured and manipulated by unseen gods, and despite their best efforts, they die anyway. I can’t think of a more perfect metaphor for the Great Recession, when college graduates around this time were feeling like their best efforts were not paying off in a tough job market. You can feel this disappointment when Marty looks up at the sky and says, “I thought there’d be stars.” Many horror fans who would have gone to see The Cabin in the Woods were feeling nihilistic, which is why it feels cathartic when Dana and Marty choose to let the world end. They don’t see a better available option, and at least they are in control of that choice.

Within the last year, those mistreated by Joss Whedon have begun to speak out and bring his 

actions to light. I hope everyone affected has a chance to share their stories, to the extent they choose. The Cabin in the Woods is a work of art with contributions from many people, and I hope it is still enjoyable for horror fans.While it didn’t revitalize slashers,it caught the attention of fans and critics alike, which is special for a horror movie. And ten years later, it’s aged well, and still deserves our attention. If we’re lucky, maybe one day we will get spinoff movies with the other monsters. My money’s on the Merman. 

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