On any level, “The Cabin in the Woods” must be judged the craziest idea for a movie in a long, long time. There would be too many blown spoilers if we detailed just how crazy, but let’s take a shot at it.
Mysterious scenes involving two researchers (Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford) at a large complex give way to yet another tale of moronic young people venturing out to somebody’s remote cabin. We’ve seen this set-up in a hundred slasher movies, at least.
The kids even ignore the ominous warnings of the gas-station attendant who acts as the harbinger of their almost certain doom. If there’s one thing you can learn from horror movies, it’s to take the slack-jawed ravings of an inbred backwoodsman very, very seriously.
Once in the cabin, of course you’ve got booze, sex, and an extremely dark basement into which our vacationers are obliged to venture. Can strange amulets and Latin incantations be far behind?
The characters conform to expectations for a movie like this: lunkhead jock (Chris Hemsworth, the dude who played “Thor”), thoughtless blonde (Anna Hutchison), thoughtful brunette (Kristen Connolly), stoner (Fran Kranz, a funny actor).
But wait. Just when all of this seems overly familiar, the script by Joss Whedon (the pop-culture maven behind “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) and director Drew Goddard (who wrote “Cloverfield”) begins to reveals its layers.
Maybe there are only two layers, but holy cow. Apparently what’s going on in that research building has something to do with the cabin in the woods.
And even if that seems peculiar and wacky when the connections are first made, stick around. Because the eventual explanation takes the movie into a whole new realm of “Are you kidding me here?”
Although certifiably insane, it’s kind of fun. Horror movies have gone “meta” before, but Whedon and Goddard have a particular appetite for this kind of wink-wink business. If “Cabin” never exactly takes flight, it definitely has a bunch of clever bits strung together.
I am curious about whether audiences will take to it, in part because one of the movie’s basic ideas is how easily audiences can be manipulated. It looks like the cult bin is the ultimate destination for this one, but finding out the secrets should give horror fans some fun for a while.
“The Cabin in the Woods” (2½ stars)
The usual story about stupid young people going to a cabin gets a head-spinning update here, in ways that go “meta” with a vengeance. Writers Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard have concocted an idea that goes from crazy to “Are you kidding me here?” with daft abandon, but horror fans should enjoy it.
Rated: R for violence, nudity, language.
Showing: Alderwood, Cinebarre, Everett Stadium, Galaxy Monroe, Marsyville, Stanwood, Metro, Pacific Place, Thorton Place, Woodinville, Cascade Mall.
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