Monday 21 October 2013

30 Days of Horror | Day 21

A Horror Movie That Only Makes You Laugh
The Cabin in the Woods

**This post contains spoilers. If you have any interest in watching The Cabin in the Woods I highly recommend watching it before reading this**


I'm going to approach the topic of this entry a little differently than it was originally intended to be. I may just be a real cynic at heart but I don't think I have ever seen a rubbish horror film that was laughably bad, they just tend to be painfully bad. So in order to make this post actually interesting for myself, and you lovely readers, I've opted to focus on my favourite horror film that is purposefully funny.

When I went to the cinema to watch The Cabin in the Woods I knew next to nothing about it, besides the cast and Joss Whedon's involvement. When I left I don't think it would be an overstatement to say that my mind had been blown a little bit. As Whedon had written the screenplay I was expecting a film that would possibly subvert a few familiar horror conventions and be a 'smarter' horror film, but what I got was a film that takes every common trope of the genre and turns it 180 degrees. This film is satire at it's best, and is an absolute treat for any fan of the genre, if only for the countless references to countless films that make returning to this just as rewarding as the initial viewing.

The self-aware characterisation of the friends that venture out to the cabin pokes fun at the stereotypes that litter the slasher sub-genre, while the banter between Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford's two operators provides a more obvious humour that not only helps keep the tone consistent as they oversee the actions of the protagonists but also results in the most hilarious and gratifying pay-off scene to feature a merman ever on film. Most of the more direct humour tends to come from the behind-the-scenes narrative but Fran Kranz delivers a pitch-perfect performance as the 'fool' of the group. The Cabin in the Woods is undoubtedly the most fun a horror-fan can have with a spoof and is my absolute favourite horror-comedy.


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