Evaluation Argument on “The Cabin in the Woods” Movie, Essay Example

A few weeks ago the movie “The Cabin in the Woods” was released. For the most part, it has become a hit for critics and those that flocked to the theater. As a movie that hopes to blend horror themes with a bizarre twist, the film attempts to deconstruct the genre, at the same time trying to entertain with the same themes that the movie mocks. While spoilers are an unavoidable part of the current argument, the objective is to convey how the movie failed on several accounts. By mocking and deconstructing the horror film genre, “The Cabin in the Woods” creates a movie where no suspense or horror can be felt.

The film in itself starts out as a true mockery of the horror genre. After all, there are five characters that are headed to a secluded cabin in order to have a bit of a vacation. Furthermore, they are all horror clichés themselves – the dumb blonde, dumb jock, the stoner, the nerd (who also has a bit of “jock-like” tendencies, and finally the ordinary girl who is the central character. Of course, it cannot be overlooked that the central character is explicitly archetyped in the movie as “the virgin.”

The twist in the movie is that they are not alone. The viewer is also subjected to the “behind the scenes” look from those controlling the cabin – which is, in fact, a way for our other main characters to essentially kill off the group of college kids. Throughout the movie, the viewer becomes aware that places like these occur all over the world, televised for the viewing pleasure of society.

This in itself is where the mockery of the film undermines itself. As a spoof of the horror film genre, “Cabin in the Woods” reduces itself to this level. Since the viewer is “in” on the setup, the film’s desire to immediately create horror fails remarkably. One scene interposes humorous undertones to what would be an incredibly climactic death scene – yet, when it switches back to the intense scene, no emotions are to be felt. For a film that reduces its main characters to cogs of an overarching game, it is difficult for viewers to genuinely care. Thus, as college student after college student gets killed off, we all know it’s part of the “game.”

Thus, what “Cabin in the Woods” is is a spoof on itself. It is difficult to imagine a movie that directly utilizes some of the methods it deconstructs in order to obtain viewing pleasure – and succeed. What results is horror cliché after horror cliché exposed, and then subsequently used. It is not until later in the film when the real twist occurs. But it is much too late and still devoid of impact.

The counterargument is thus set. Those that enjoy the film point to how these two groups of main characters meet later in the film. After escaping from the “game,” two surviving characters find a way to fight for their lives. They eventually find out the meaning behind it all, and proceed to defeat the last “boss” in order to save their lives. Unfortunately, and as the ending of the film reveals, they were wrong in their assumption that the “puppeteers” were not telling the truth. Since one of them did not die, they have caused the end of the world, as the ending of the movie demonstrates.

To define the two basic thrusts of the movie, we start off with a plot that is known even from the film’s trailer. Then, we see the college students fight against the puppeteers that were controlling them – which the latter was doing to satisfy requirements needed to save the world – but then the students succeed, thus causing the end of the world. In an obvious level of absurdity, the film ends with a bang – but a poor one.

The ending thus demonstrates a ridiculous absurdity. It creates logical problems as well, as in the middle of the film the other puppeteer situations – so to speak – failed as well. However, only the situation at the cabin caused the end of the world, which simply does not make sense. It is with these failures that the movie falls remarkably short of entertainment value and logical consistency.

The important thing is that the film entertains. While this is certainly objective, the basic workings of the film make it difficult. After all, two-thirds of the movie is well drawn out before anyone reaches the movie theater. And after that, the movie creates such a distance between the audience and any main characters that, to put it bluntly, no one really cares anymore. It becomes a matter of seeing what happens next, devoid of any true interaction with the characters or horror.

Overall, “Cabin in the Woods” is a spoof on the horror genre that ultimately fails. Unlike other spoofs such as “Scary Movie,” the film attempts to make fun of the same mechanics that it utilizes for laughter, horror, and other elements. In the end, it falls short of creating any immersive experience for the viewer. In the ultimate sense of irony, the real entertaining item is this: this horror spoof deconstructs not only the same genre that it falls in, but the mechanics that it tries to utilizes for entertainment value.