The Cabin in the Woods

The Cabin in the Woods is a lot deeper than the cookie-cutter scary movie. Instead of being a simple horror film, it is more like a parody of one, in that it makes commentary on the creation of horror films. Before the movie was released, the description was "Five kids go to a cabin in the woods. Bad things happen", which is both hilarious and strange, but is similar to the description of every scary movie in existence. The film begins the way many horror movies begin - with a dumb blonde, a quiet and reserved girl, a nerd, a jock, and a burn-out. The five most diverse group of friends go to an ominous cabin in the woods, secluded, where the viewers know something terrible is going to happen. Even on their way to the cabin, there a specifically casted creepy old man who owns a gas station that gives them a warning. However, unlike a typical scary movie, it is a company - "puppeteers" - that is being forced to make these terrible things happen by controlling hormones, lighting, and enclosing the kids with a fate that they were to choose of how to die. They make bets, and are forced to abide by a set of rules in order to appease the "ancient ones", a metaphor for the every-day horror movie watcher. We, as the viewers, hold the power in to how scary movies are created and how they end.