Not just that they weren't stereotypes, they were so wrong for it that they didn't meet the roles: For the jock, they went with the academic scholarship who advises his friend on a reading list based on both impressing her professor and on what's interesting (find me 5 college students who can name a single book in the field of any professor that the professor doesn't know AND will be impressed by) For the brain, they picked the guy who caught a football randomly lobbed out a second floor window on the other side of the street and described as "best hands on the team". Even with him being drugged, he admits he's having trouble because he's working off a single 10th grade class. For the whore,, they went with a girl who has to be drugged to have sex with her boyfriend. For the virgin, they went with a girl who was having sex with her teacher and started the movie dancing in her underwear in front of her friend's boyfriend (and continues to do so until he calls her out on it). Near the end she even points out that she's the wrong person. The fool spends the whole movie pointing out the stupid things the others do and the attempts to manipulate them. The director claims they work with what they have, but they completely picked the wrong people for the roles.
Not everything needs a franchise, and especially horror movies tend to be the ones to have worse when they happen. And we all know how much this movie's writers know the industry they are writing for. I wonder to what extent the certain destruction of the world wasn't specifically to avoid it XD
@@TheLastSamurai813 Turns out we're both wrong. According to Drew Goddard in The Cabin in the Woods: The Official Visual Companion, Kevin was meant to be “a sweet-looking guy who seemed like he might work at Best Buy - until he dismembers people.”
And probably the closest thing to it forever. Anything in the SCP mythos is a copyright nightmare (if you want to get profit at least, there's a ton of adaptions online).
@@21Handguns problem with trying make movie or franchise out of scp is because everything on it is public domain. So that means other people can profit from it. Lest I think that’s the reason.
You missed a couple things. In the beginning, the characters aren't actually their stereotypes. Dana isn't the "sweet, innocent" girl, she was sleeping with her professor. Jules wasn't a dumb blonde, she was pre-med. The "nerd" was the star football player.
My biggest problem with this film, which overall I loved, is that they show all these amazing alternative monsters and you realise they chose the most mundane, boring, cliche ones in the zombie murder hillbilly family as the ‘main’ monsters.
For real. Maybe that was the point, to choose the most stereotypical and overused horror movie monster, as part of the meta commentary, but it did make me a bit disappointed
@@KelstenGamingUK Hahaha, that would have been great. Everyone is excited thinking that another cursed artifact will be chosen, all on the edge of their seats, then the main character goes "hey everyone, listen to this," and all the people in the office go "AHHHH D*MN IT!" throwing down their clipboards
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is a pretty damn excellent horror comedy that's in a similar vein to this. It doesn't involve governments sacrificing teens to appease an eldritch horror, but the meta humor is great, and doesn't ever get cringey.
the ancient ones are the US! the people who watch and enjoy these films, and when we dont get what we want WE DESTROY EVERYTHING THEY CREATED. The office people are the writers directors and everyone else who helps to create the scenes that we are seeing. It is PERFECT comentary on the genre of horror movies.
@@TacticalDimples sorry, I shouldn't have capitalized the word us. I understand how that makes things confusing. I wasn't trying to imply that the United States is the monster, but the fans of the genre will tear a movie completely apart if it fails to deliver what we are watching for. I do still love and cherish this movie!
@@meiguessmeiguess7225 thats definitely one way to look at it, the "old ones" being scathing reviews and a terrible box office causing the world these characters inhabit to crumble into obscurity.
Cabin in the Woods was a 10/10 experience from beginning to end I will die on this hill Edited to add: sigourney weaver making her appearance in the final 3 minutes of the movie was objectively the funniest part of this entire film and I will also die on that hill
It isnt tho as so much I the film could have beennused instead and had been far better the endles evil choices leaves a bad taste in the mouth becuase all it doe is make you think we'll this movie could have ben 10 x better
The Cabin in the Woods is, ironically AND unironically one of my favorite horror movies. It's absolutely great fun while still managing to be pretty ominous and creepy at times. And it's just a genius idea to explain horror movie clichés this way, especially when the characters weren't even that stereotypical at the start. From what I've heard, the Ancients actually represent the audience.
The first scene in this film sold me right away. The comedic delivery of the opening was just perfect, and I knew right away that this film was going to be different and really fun.
I love the ending. This movie does not need a sequel. I love a self contained story honestly. Joss may not be the best person, but it's undeniable that his products are truly excellent in their writing and metaphors (and messaging).
I'm so excited that you used that particular digestion NOPE scene to emphasise the immense horror of that film. It has been the most horrifying scene I've ever seen in a film and praise it by often still thinking about it. That's what gets me the most in horror; one moment you're having a good time, and the next second, you're in the most terrifying nightmare you can imagine, without truly knowing what happened. Paria Pipe Incident, The Great Molasses Flood, Nutty Putty Cave etc. Even now, there's a funfair in my town, every now and then I hear the screams from the attractions blow on the wind towards my window and I get those NOPE shivers. That film changed me forever and made it into my top 5 films INSTANTLY. It's a masterpiece.
Fr. I was watching the movie with friends and I had to ask them to pause it after the blood rain. I needed a moment just to process the utter sick horror I was going through, something that I hadn't felt since reading Junji Ito's Uzumaki. It's kind of cool how they did it as well. They got the actors to record squeals and screams of delight, then mixed those with recorded screams of being frightened.
One of the points I picked up from this movie was: Smoking weed makes you more perceptive, and as a hard-working stoner myself, that's great characterization 😂 Awesome movie
I think there was a point that the bunker guys were sayin they added gas to the stoner's room but it didnt take effect, as if his body is so used to being on drugs.
The reason there's a Tank, Boomer, and Witch in the scene with the cubes is there was supposed to be a L4D2 campaign based on the movie (sucks it was cancelled)
One fun fact i have heard about this movie is, that the character of Marty never undresses or even shows the slightest bit of skin, especially in the lake scene, is because he should be the typical stoner. But the actor for Marty was absolutely ripped and had visible abs etc for another role i think and because that would not fit the character, they made him never take off his clothes.
"Have the mist for everyone to undress in all the rooms that aren't the stoner's" could be a sentence that was said in the room lol it does explain how he was physically equal with the zombies though
The old man is the harbinger, a teller of what is to come & another trope the movie addresses. I love this movie so much, it’s def on my top 5 horror list.
Literally my exact thought. And how did they even advertise the positions? I can't imagine they'd have a posting on Glassdoor for "Murder Technician" or something.
I was fortunate enough to not only see this during its original theatrical run. I saw it in d-box. It was in fact the first time I saw any motion seat movie experience. It was transcendent. Top 5 “let’s go to the movies “ of my life.
It’s the last movie I watched with a friend before he was killed 12 years ago. Always takes me back to that day watching it with him when watching it. So I’ve always enjoyed watching the film. Good movie too
I think adding Ripley was another callback and a great choice (as the other actors would also be callbacks themselves, as they all ‘survived’ their respective horror movies). I’ve also seen the theory that this is a prequel to Firefly and is how the earth that was, got destroyed. I love the movie, it was really cleverly done.
The idea for this movie came from Seth Green, actually. He was at a get togethet with Joss Whedon, among others, and discussed the concept, which Joss then wrote into a script together with another writer. Apparently, Seth was inspired by a book that was close to what the movie ended up looking like called The Little White Trip, and expanded on the idea. Seth even joked about how Joss stole the idea and never gave him credit in a Family Guy episode.
I love the ending of this film. It punctuates the message that tired formularic horror stories like this spoofs should face an apocalypse, be flattened to nothing by elder gods.😂
This film should serve as a blueprint for how the Dead by Daylight movie should be structured. You have this secret force (the observer) controlling and instructing all the different killers to their respective realms. And when they're not in use, they're trapped away, waiting to rebel.
I love this movie, it was refrshing and different but also mixed in the tropes and classic horror to be hilariously parodied. The office parts always were my favourite.
So I'd never seen this, and stopped your video the second I knew it seemed damn good and I had to watch it. This is everything modern Hollywood is lacking. What an absolute ride, just... holy shit I'm speechless. Thank you for pointing out something incredible! 11/10 this is how you make movies right.
The part with Dana being attacked by the Buckner zombie it was supposed to be intercut with the tech people like half the scenes were Dana is being brutally attacked and the other half is the tech people celebrating the whole thing. The studio thought it would be too violent of the woman getting violently attacked and they took the whole scene out and got the scenes in the tamed version for the theatrical movie. The blueray has the commentary and the director goes into detail about it
The film was actually made and completed in 2009 but not released until 2012. Kevin is Elijah Woods character from Sin City and the reason why the left 4 dead monsters were in the film is because there was suppose to be a game tie expansion pack with the human characters had a map where they started in a woods-cabin-facility in the game but it was cancelled because of MGMs financial problems
Can’t believe someone else made a video on this underrated gem. It’s so good, but I barely ever see anyone talking about it.This is literally one of my favorite horror movies of all time
Honestly, I absolutely love the ending. One of my favorite endings to a horror movie in a long time. Granted, I wasn't sure how to feel about it at first, but after playing some Outer Wilds, and such, I kinda came to a conclusion that the ending just kinda fits, and is really dope. The idea that "a world that's surviving on the sacrifices of the unwilling is one not worth existing", and that letting the world end, so one day there could be a new one, hopefully without the sacrifices...I liked that idea. And it's refreshing seeing it.
I remember not knowing anything about the movie beforehand and going to watch it in a small independent genre theatre, possibly during the fantastic film festival (Méliès d’Or) series that year. I was very satisfied with what I got. Just the fact that it had a satisfyingly definitive ending, something that is nigh on unheard of in a movie produced today, almost lifts the movie rating a half point on its own in my book. One lost opportunity though is that the team could have recorded encounters with more than one set of monsters while they were making the film and cut into what would have essentially been maybe five or even more different movies. If they had done that and never mentioned that in any press material, just imagine the confusion when people who watched the same film on different occasions had drastically different experiences. The cult following would be even greater. The physical media release could have ended up as a modern “choose your story”. (And what an opportunity to have that one version that were only ever shown to an audience in theatres once and never again - the ensuing treasure hunt…)
Btw just to comment on your point of “The Director” coming out of nowhere. You kept mentioning how they referred to management as “upstairs”, but actually when referring to management (or Ancients) characters specifically used “downstairs” (eg “Does The Director… do they know about it downstairs?” line) so the director of the facility showing up in the room directly below the control room makes perfect sense to me. In fact “upstairs” was specifically used as a gag around this, cause when demolition team referred to the explosion malfunction as “an unauthorised power re-route from upstairs” - which makes you think it was on management’s orders - it’s quickly revealed that Marty survived and was crossing the wires - he’s the one who’s “upstairs”
I have a buddy with an interesting theory. He thinks that the ancient gods are the audience, who must be entertained, because if they don't go see the summer blockbuster, the fictional world of the film will end. Different audiences have different needs. American audiences need their stereotypes and final girls. The Japanese audiences need their quasi spiritual metaphors. But someone, somewhere has to satisfy the audiences need for a compelling story, which makes it a meta meta commentary on film making itself.
Some time ago I read somewhere that the "people upstairs" represent the movie executives who decide what they want in or out of a movie. Or it could also represent the "boss = people you need to please = the audience". Either way, it alludes to why the underground guys would always think what the upstairs people like or don't like happening in the cabin. When you mentioned that the other choices for Sigourney Weaver's character here were big horror icons like Bruce Campbell or Jamie Lee Curtis, it made a lot more sense to me than her being there as a random cameo. This movie really was an homage to the horror films that came before it, and it's one of my favorite comfort films
In a nutshell: This film is both a parody and an homage to horror films, a satire and a tribute to the horor genre, while simultaneously standing excellently on its own as an entertaining and surprisingly funny horror movie, even if you get zero of the references or the meta commentary. An impressive feat, and a masterclass in tone and execution, not to mention the technical aspects. Close to a perfect masterpiece, if anything could ever be.
There are so many great aspects to this movie, it's hard to have a favourite, but something I really appreciate is the industrialisation of the pagan sacrifice ritual. I love that idea, and that the whole concept underpinning the movie is another horror movie trope.
Nahhh we don't need sequels. Too many movies get ruined by franchising, this is perfect how it ended! Also, i love the world ending cause that's an ending we rarely get in any movie. Cause I sure as heck wouldn't sacrafice my friend to save the world xD
I think a Prequal is the way to go as in the movie they mention a glitch in the system back in 1998. I think a prequal showing the events from 98 would be interesting.
The ppl upstairs is the audience. They do this to please an audience and if the “right criteria” of movie is not provided to the audience we reject it. Hence the giant hand. I’ve watched a lot of interviews for it and that is a really condensed version of an interview I watched from the creators. I liked this video and hope this gives some content for the end.
I found this movies imbd page like MONTHS before it released, recently after it was added. I was instantly interested when the description was just "group of kids go to a cabin in the woods." Im think, impecable. Perfect description ever. Actually SEEING that movie, i was NOT expecting such an amazing masterpiece. I think its perfect.
This was one of the best movies i have ever seen. I saw it in theaters as a joke because i thought it was going to be stupid. I was in awe the entire time. One of the best going to the movie theater experiences i have ever had
I thought the only mistake they'd made was revealing the forcefield too early, with the bird flying into it. It took away from the motorbike death... but I quite enjoyed this one.
Mordecai, the gas station guy, is the only one taking this seriously. He's not the harbinger _of death,_ just the harbinger. He has the gift of foresight, and he uses it to explain how the "insolence of fool" nearly made him go off character and be too aggressive with him. He sees the problem of marty not being as subdued as he should be and tries to explain, but his delivery is so serious that him being on speakerphone makes all the workers laugh because they don't take their jobs seriously. It's so well written, it shows how horror has degraded to people who just assume they dont need to take the movie seriously in order to make a good movie. Truman is the personification of the writers of this movie, they take the project seriously and they actually make the best horror movie in ages along with clever commentary on the industry itself. I mean no offense, but this is a review from the office workers who just go through the motions. There was no reason for a sequel, the story is done and the message has been delivered. If there was a sequel, it would be like _American Psycho 2_ or _kindergarten cop 2_ because the story would be about the world the movie created, it wouldn't be a sequel to what the movie was.
I think you may have not picked up on what the ending was supposed mean. It's meta commentary, the ancient ones are quite literally supposed to be Us, the film goers watching the film. This is taken from the wiki: "In the metafiction meaning, the whole film is a criticism to horror film clichés and conventions, down to the point of having the American Ritual itself as a play on the final girl trope. Given this fact, the Ancient Ones are a postmodern way the film authors (Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon) have their say on how the horror film fans have grown old of primal fears in films, constantly asking for different and more elaborate experiences in horror fiction that has lead to, ironically, many more chiché filled films and a decadence on the genre. In other words, the Ancient Ones are the public itself that is watching the film."
The one thing i would change about this movie would be to remove the eagle force field forwshadowing, it did not need to be set up so hard given that the audience knows the level of tech involved from other scenes. if the first time we saw it was the bike jump scene it would have sold the despair of the remaining protagonists as the audience would be equally surprised in the moment instead of knowing what was coming for the five minutes of buildupand discussion between the characters before the actual bike jump. Literally, the movie could just be trimmed to remove the bird scene and i feel like that'd make such a huge tonal difference in the later bike scene.
So no kidding I worked at a movie theater when this came out and I actually had a couple come out and say hey guys I think you're playing the wrong movie I don't know what this intro is on this and I was like dude You got to trust me it's part of the movie You got to get back in there right now lol
So this movie reminds me of a story that also tries to take a meta look at horror movies, Although it's a serialized web novel instead of a movie. The game at carousel which follows a group of people trapped in a hellish world where they have to continually live through horror movies as their chosen archetypes, And if they want who survive at all they have to play into those roles. Would highly recommend
The classic troupe-of-teenage-monster-fodder are great, but I think the office team is even better, because they are, in a way, in their own horror story: They see people being horrifically killed, they only have the choice to either aid and abet in that or sacrifice the entire world to their moral standards. I imagine that most of them started out like the one New Guy: shocked both at what they see on the screen and at how the office people react. And then you either quit and are mind-wiped, or you stay on and find a way to deal: detachment, bets, graveyard humor, tequila ... And I really liked Sigourney Weaver's character: she honestly wants to keep the world from ending, and this is the only way to do it ... and also for that ''we work with what we get'' line . Classic Joss Whedon.
They could make a prequel about how this deal between the gods and humans created in the first place. Which would lead to a sequel of any surviving humans of the New World starting the process again
I absolutely LOVED this movie. I understand that, while a sequel is not possible with how the movie ended, I don’t see why they can’t make a prequel. There’s SO many ways they could spin things with a prequel or even multiple prequels since there’s many monsters to work with.
The Cabin In The Woods was an amazing movie honestly. I've just gone through a few more of your videos today (I've seen plenty beforehand), including A Quiet Place, Lost, The Crazies, & I Am Legend. I was wondering, have you ever heard of the show Falling Skies?
I always assumed that the ancient ones were supposed to represent us. If us, the audience, aren't satisfied with the movies that come out, then the whole genre (which would be their world) comes crumbling down. It adds onto the theme of studios sticking to cookie cutter movies to not risk the audience hating the movie.
My dad used to burn random movies onto dvds and this was one of them, nothing prepared me for this incredible plot and for a couple years I never met anyone else who had even heard of it
I believe when they talk about the people upstairs they’re referring to the ancient ones not the director (Sigourney Weaver) because the entire ritual is a show for them so they have to keep the people upstairs happy.
I actually like how the characters were not stereotypes in the beginning. But got progressively more stereotypical throughout the Movie.
It immediately shows that Thor is not dumb at all, a pretty good student.
"This is great and explains all the dumb decisions! HE'S GONNA MAKE IT ACROSS THE CANYON!"
Just like Joss Whedon
that's the point, they were being gassed and drugged etc, which altered their behavior making them more stereotypical.
Not just that they weren't stereotypes, they were so wrong for it that they didn't meet the roles:
For the jock, they went with the academic scholarship who advises his friend on a reading list based on both impressing her professor and on what's interesting (find me 5 college students who can name a single book in the field of any professor that the professor doesn't know AND will be impressed by)
For the brain, they picked the guy who caught a football randomly lobbed out a second floor window on the other side of the street and described as "best hands on the team". Even with him being drugged, he admits he's having trouble because he's working off a single 10th grade class.
For the whore,, they went with a girl who has to be drugged to have sex with her boyfriend.
For the virgin, they went with a girl who was having sex with her teacher and started the movie dancing in her underwear in front of her friend's boyfriend (and continues to do so until he calls her out on it). Near the end she even points out that she's the wrong person.
The fool spends the whole movie pointing out the stupid things the others do and the attempts to manipulate them.
The director claims they work with what they have, but they completely picked the wrong people for the roles.
“And then Sigourney Weaver comes out of nowhere and explains everything” 😂
That's Ripley for ya...😊
The most casual ripley spotting 😭😭‼️
Just common Ripley thing. Spouting exposition out of nowhere while looking cool for some reason
This movie does not need a sequel. It's perfect as it is.
Technically can’t make a sequel because the old gods destroyed the world in the end
Yep, everything doesn't have to be a franchise
Not everything needs a franchise, and especially horror movies tend to be the ones to have worse when they happen.
And we all know how much this movie's writers know the industry they are writing for.
I wonder to what extent the certain destruction of the world wasn't specifically to avoid it XD
I totally agree with that, however a couple people have mentioned prequel possibilities which is actually in this case interesting as fuckk
I think 'Kevin' is a Home Alone reference, which, from the burglars' point of view, is indeed a horror movie, with Kevin McCallister as the monster.
incorrect. Kevin is Elijah Woods character from Sin City
@@TheLastSamurai813 Turns out we're both wrong. According to Drew Goddard in The Cabin in the Woods: The Official Visual Companion, Kevin was meant to be “a sweet-looking guy who seemed like he might work at Best Buy - until he dismembers people.”
@@darnbricks literally the exact same look as Kevin from sin city. Multiple articles and IMDb all have him as Kevin from sin city
@@TheLastSamurai813 Sure, you know better than the writer/director. Go away.
I think it’s Kevin the cube from Fortnite
This movie is closest thing to actual SCP Hollywood film
And probably the closest thing to it forever. Anything in the SCP mythos is a copyright nightmare
(if you want to get profit at least, there's a ton of adaptions online).
Excellent description!!!!
@@CalvinNoire99% of it is non profit and aren't protected by any copyright btw. Same for creepypastas
Ripley represents the producers and the studio.
@@21Handguns problem with trying make movie or franchise out of scp is because everything on it is public domain. So that means other people can profit from it. Lest I think that’s the reason.
You missed a couple things. In the beginning, the characters aren't actually their stereotypes. Dana isn't the "sweet, innocent" girl, she was sleeping with her professor. Jules wasn't a dumb blonde, she was pre-med. The "nerd" was the star football player.
you missed a couple things, like the fact that he definitely mentions that in the video
@@jordankleinman7786😂😂😂
My biggest problem with this film, which overall I loved, is that they show all these amazing alternative monsters and you realise they chose the most mundane, boring, cliche ones in the zombie murder hillbilly family as the ‘main’ monsters.
That’s so true 😂
For real. Maybe that was the point, to choose the most stereotypical and overused horror movie monster, as part of the meta commentary, but it did make me a bit disappointed
@@j-rey- I think perhaps if they’d dropped a line in from the office people along those lines of ‘oh, these guys again!’ it might have been ok.
@@KelstenGamingUK Hahaha, that would have been great. Everyone is excited thinking that another cursed artifact will be chosen, all on the edge of their seats, then the main character goes "hey everyone, listen to this," and all the people in the office go "AHHHH D*MN IT!" throwing down their clipboards
While I agree with you, I feel like it makes sense because its the most stereotypical monster
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is a pretty damn excellent horror comedy that's in a similar vein to this. It doesn't involve governments sacrificing teens to appease an eldritch horror, but the meta humor is great, and doesn't ever get cringey.
Agreed! Also a favourite of mine. Under-rated
Such a great movie!
I hope he does a video on it!
Tucker & Dale is ruined by the forced romance 🤮
Tucker and Dale did so well because all through it, he was a leaf on the wind
the ancient ones are the US! the people who watch and enjoy these films, and when we dont get what we want WE DESTROY EVERYTHING THEY CREATED. The office people are the writers directors and everyone else who helps to create the scenes that we are seeing.
It is PERFECT comentary on the genre of horror movies.
Not the US, the audience as a whole. That’s why there are references to different countries with their own rituals.
@@TacticalDimples sorry, I shouldn't have capitalized the word us. I understand how that makes things confusing. I wasn't trying to imply that the United States is the monster, but the fans of the genre will tear a movie completely apart if it fails to deliver what we are watching for.
I do still love and cherish this movie!
We the audience are the "people upstairs" and if we are not entertained we will unleash the old ones.
@@meiguessmeiguess7225 thats definitely one way to look at it, the "old ones" being scathing reviews and a terrible box office causing the world these characters inhabit to crumble into obscurity.
@@meiguessmeiguess7225 Not just metaphorically either, when we go to see the films in theaters we go up stairs to our seats.
Cabin in the Woods was a 10/10 experience from beginning to end I will die on this hill
Edited to add: sigourney weaver making her appearance in the final 3 minutes of the movie was objectively the funniest part of this entire film and I will also die on that hill
I took it as humor too her showing up
It isnt tho as so much I the film could have beennused instead and had been far better the endles evil choices leaves a bad taste in the mouth becuase all it doe is make you think we'll this movie could have ben 10 x better
This movie is a classic, and I feel it is painfully underrated.
But should have been sooooo much better
The Cabin in the Woods is, ironically AND unironically one of my favorite horror movies. It's absolutely great fun while still managing to be pretty ominous and creepy at times. And it's just a genius idea to explain horror movie clichés this way, especially when the characters weren't even that stereotypical at the start.
From what I've heard, the Ancients actually represent the audience.
The characters were absolutely stereotypes of their roles, but 4 of them were assigned the wrong roles.
The first scene in this film sold me right away. The comedic delivery of the opening was just perfect, and I knew right away that this film was going to be different and really fun.
I love the ending. This movie does not need a sequel. I love a self contained story honestly. Joss may not be the best person, but it's undeniable that his products are truly excellent in their writing and metaphors (and messaging).
It's perfect and self contained. It doesn't need a sequel or prequel. I'm glad it ended with an actual resolution instead of trying to bait a sequel.
This movie wasn’t even going to be released until Hemsworth was cast as Thor and the studio was banking on name recognition.
Source?
I'm so excited that you used that particular digestion NOPE scene to emphasise the immense horror of that film. It has been the most horrifying scene I've ever seen in a film and praise it by often still thinking about it. That's what gets me the most in horror; one moment you're having a good time, and the next second, you're in the most terrifying nightmare you can imagine, without truly knowing what happened. Paria Pipe Incident, The Great Molasses Flood, Nutty Putty Cave etc. Even now, there's a funfair in my town, every now and then I hear the screams from the attractions blow on the wind towards my window and I get those NOPE shivers. That film changed me forever and made it into my top 5 films INSTANTLY. It's a masterpiece.
Fr. I was watching the movie with friends and I had to ask them to pause it after the blood rain. I needed a moment just to process the utter sick horror I was going through, something that I hadn't felt since reading Junji Ito's Uzumaki.
It's kind of cool how they did it as well. They got the actors to record squeals and screams of delight, then mixed those with recorded screams of being frightened.
One of the points I picked up from this movie was:
Smoking weed makes you more perceptive, and as a hard-working stoner myself, that's great characterization 😂
Awesome movie
I think there was a point that the bunker guys were sayin they added gas to the stoner's room but it didnt take effect, as if his body is so used to being on drugs.
The reason there's a Tank, Boomer, and Witch in the scene with the cubes is there was supposed to be a L4D2 campaign based on the movie (sucks it was cancelled)
One fun fact i have heard about this movie is, that the character of Marty never undresses or even shows the slightest bit of skin, especially in the lake scene, is because he should be the typical stoner. But the actor for Marty was absolutely ripped and had visible abs etc for another role i think and because that would not fit the character, they made him never take off his clothes.
"Have the mist for everyone to undress in all the rooms that aren't the stoner's" could be a sentence that was said in the room lol it does explain how he was physically equal with the zombies though
This is interesting. I didn't notice while watching but seeing him in the screenshots here... holy cow, he is a beast.
I really liked that the ending was so clear, dark and definitive.
Still getting goose bumps just thinking about it 👌
Glad i found you man, i love video essays on horror movies, added you to the food along with dead meat and wow such gaming ❤
I just recently found this channel too. Perfect for easy listening.
Same, came for the walking dead analysis and stayed for the general horror analysis
The old man is the harbinger, a teller of what is to come & another trope the movie addresses.
I love this movie so much, it’s def on my top 5 horror list.
"And then Sigourney Weaver shows up out of nowhere and explains everything" is great.
God I forking love this movie.
I hope she shows up out of nowhere to explain where my life went wrong 🥲
I'd love to know how this company hired their employees, like what are the interview questions like lol
Literally my exact thought. And how did they even advertise the positions? I can't imagine they'd have a posting on Glassdoor for "Murder Technician" or something.
I was thinking about that too! 😂
Probably passed down through generations and ancestors who were the first to deal with these sacrifices
"So are you comfortable of not asking any questions, no matter what it is?"
I was fortunate enough to not only see this during its original theatrical run. I saw it in d-box. It was in fact the first time I saw any motion seat movie experience. It was transcendent. Top 5 “let’s go to the movies “ of my life.
This movie was so iconic, if you had only seen the trailer.They totally tricked us. Sigourney weaver randomly was crazy.
It’s the last movie I watched with a friend before he was killed 12 years ago. Always takes me back to that day watching it with him when watching it. So I’ve always enjoyed watching the film. Good movie too
I think adding Ripley was another callback and a great choice (as the other actors would also be callbacks themselves, as they all ‘survived’ their respective horror movies).
I’ve also seen the theory that this is a prequel to Firefly and is how the earth that was, got destroyed.
I love the movie, it was really cleverly done.
The idea for this movie came from Seth Green, actually. He was at a get togethet with Joss Whedon, among others, and discussed the concept, which Joss then wrote into a script together with another writer.
Apparently, Seth was inspired by a book that was close to what the movie ended up looking like called The Little White Trip, and expanded on the idea.
Seth even joked about how Joss stole the idea and never gave him credit in a Family Guy episode.
It doesn’t need a sequel. It was too unique to even try and recapture this lighting in a bottle. I like it the way it is!!!
I love the ending of this film. It punctuates the message that tired formularic horror stories like this spoofs should face an apocalypse, be flattened to nothing by elder gods.😂
Kevin is Kevin McCalister. And that would have been scary AF.
He is too op. Thats why he was not shown
This film should serve as a blueprint for how the Dead by Daylight movie should be structured.
You have this secret force (the observer) controlling and instructing all the different killers to their respective realms. And when they're not in use, they're trapped away, waiting to rebel.
I love this movie, it was refrshing and different but also mixed in the tropes and classic horror to be hilariously parodied. The office parts always were my favourite.
So I'd never seen this, and stopped your video the second I knew it seemed damn good and I had to watch it.
This is everything modern Hollywood is lacking. What an absolute ride, just... holy shit I'm speechless.
Thank you for pointing out something incredible!
11/10 this is how you make movies right.
I think The Descent would be a good breakdown!
The part with Dana being attacked by the Buckner zombie it was supposed to be intercut with the tech people like half the scenes were Dana is being brutally attacked and the other half is the tech people celebrating the whole thing. The studio thought it would be too violent of the woman getting violently attacked and they took the whole scene out and got the scenes in the tamed version for the theatrical movie. The blueray has the commentary and the director goes into detail about it
I think the whole thing is meta. There isn't a need for a sequel or a prequel. The movie is best served as a standalone film.
I like how Marty survives an obviously fatal attack simply because it was done off-screen.
OH!! Do Tucker And Dale Vs Evil!!
The film was actually made and completed in 2009 but not released until 2012. Kevin is Elijah Woods character from Sin City and the reason why the left 4 dead monsters were in the film is because there was suppose to be a game tie expansion pack with the human characters had a map where they started in a woods-cabin-facility in the game but it was cancelled because of MGMs financial problems
That's a damn shame
this is true, it was a pretty cool idea and it's sad that we never got to see it
Can’t believe someone else made a video on this underrated gem. It’s so good, but I barely ever see anyone talking about it.This is literally one of my favorite horror movies of all time
Honestly, I absolutely love the ending. One of my favorite endings to a horror movie in a long time.
Granted, I wasn't sure how to feel about it at first, but after playing some Outer Wilds, and such, I kinda came to a conclusion that the ending just kinda fits, and is really dope. The idea that "a world that's surviving on the sacrifices of the unwilling is one not worth existing", and that letting the world end, so one day there could be a new one, hopefully without the sacrifices...I liked that idea. And it's refreshing seeing it.
My head cannon is that the twins are Danny devitto and Arnold coming to hint you down 😅😅😅
I’m so happy I never watched a trailer or anything about this movie when it came out.
this is not an horror movie, is a meta parody of how the horror tropes work, with a good dosis of cosmic horror
I remember not knowing anything about the movie beforehand and going to watch it in a small independent genre theatre, possibly during the fantastic film festival (Méliès d’Or) series that year. I was very satisfied with what I got. Just the fact that it had a satisfyingly definitive ending, something that is nigh on unheard of in a movie produced today, almost lifts the movie rating a half point on its own in my book.
One lost opportunity though is that the team could have recorded encounters with more than one set of monsters while they were making the film and cut into what would have essentially been maybe five or even more different movies. If they had done that and never mentioned that in any press material, just imagine the confusion when people who watched the same film on different occasions had drastically different experiences. The cult following would be even greater. The physical media release could have ended up as a modern “choose your story”.
(And what an opportunity to have that one version that were only ever shown to an audience in theatres once and never again - the ensuing treasure hunt…)
So sad how Ripley became a villain AND lost all of her survival instincts in this movie.
Btw just to comment on your point of “The Director” coming out of nowhere. You kept mentioning how they referred to management as “upstairs”, but actually when referring to management (or Ancients) characters specifically used “downstairs” (eg “Does The Director… do they know about it downstairs?” line) so the director of the facility showing up in the room directly below the control room makes perfect sense to me.
In fact “upstairs” was specifically used as a gag around this, cause when demolition team referred to the explosion malfunction as “an unauthorised power re-route from upstairs” - which makes you think it was on management’s orders - it’s quickly revealed that Marty survived and was crossing the wires - he’s the one who’s “upstairs”
I got the chills when they said "What is this some kind of cabin in the woods?". CHILLS i say.
Man i gotta rewatch this movie
I think the fact this movie has you catching things on rewatches proves how fantastic it is.
Kevin is a reference of that psycho in the movie Sin City.
I HIGHLY underrated movie that MORE people need to see.
I dont want a sequel. I want "prequels" just so i can see the other monsters damnit
I have a buddy with an interesting theory. He thinks that the ancient gods are the audience, who must be entertained, because if they don't go see the summer blockbuster, the fictional world of the film will end. Different audiences have different needs. American audiences need their stereotypes and final girls. The Japanese audiences need their quasi spiritual metaphors. But someone, somewhere has to satisfy the audiences need for a compelling story, which makes it a meta meta commentary on film making itself.
Some time ago I read somewhere that the "people upstairs" represent the movie executives who decide what they want in or out of a movie. Or it could also represent the "boss = people you need to please = the audience". Either way, it alludes to why the underground guys would always think what the upstairs people like or don't like happening in the cabin.
When you mentioned that the other choices for Sigourney Weaver's character here were big horror icons like Bruce Campbell or Jamie Lee Curtis, it made a lot more sense to me than her being there as a random cameo. This movie really was an homage to the horror films that came before it, and it's one of my favorite comfort films
In a nutshell:
This film is both a parody and an homage to horror films, a satire and a tribute to the horor genre, while simultaneously standing excellently on its own as an entertaining and surprisingly funny horror movie, even if you get zero of the references or the meta commentary. An impressive feat, and a masterclass in tone and execution, not to mention the technical aspects. Close to a perfect masterpiece, if anything could ever be.
I like how it gives weight to all of the slasher flicks out there so we can rewatch them and go "I wonder if the home office engineered this?"
There are so many great aspects to this movie, it's hard to have a favourite, but something I really appreciate is the industrialisation of the pagan sacrifice ritual. I love that idea, and that the whole concept underpinning the movie is another horror movie trope.
Nahhh we don't need sequels. Too many movies get ruined by franchising, this is perfect how it ended! Also, i love the world ending cause that's an ending we rarely get in any movie. Cause I sure as heck wouldn't sacrafice my friend to save the world xD
I remember when I first watched this movie, I was laughing so much! I love this movie, really well done 👍🏻
Glad you made this so i don’t feel the need anymore and can move on to another topic. Great job. Exactly what i was thinking. Meta masterpiece.
I think the Sugar Plum Fairy is that ballerina with that mouth full of teeth for a face.
I argue that sigourney weaver unexpectedly is always absolutely hilarious and that is why they did that
Its such a good twist on the horror genre. I love it.
I think a Prequal is the way to go as in the movie they mention a glitch in the system back in 1998. I think a prequal showing the events from 98 would be interesting.
I like to interpret this movie as a reminder of freedom and to embrace it more than captivity.
I find it ironic that The Cabin in the Woods came out when meta humor horror movies were relatively niche but now we have a sweatshop’s worth of them.
LOVE THIS MOVIE. once i realized what the movie had accomplished i was like whoa
Love this movie, definitely feel its underappreciated so im always glad to see some content about it, excited to watch :)
The ppl upstairs is the audience. They do this to please an audience and if the “right criteria” of movie is not provided to the audience we reject it. Hence the giant hand. I’ve watched a lot of interviews for it and that is a really condensed version of an interview I watched from the creators.
I liked this video and hope this gives some content for the end.
I found this movies imbd page like MONTHS before it released, recently after it was added. I was instantly interested when the description was just "group of kids go to a cabin in the woods." Im think, impecable. Perfect description ever.
Actually SEEING that movie, i was NOT expecting such an amazing masterpiece. I think its perfect.
This was one of the best movies i have ever seen. I saw it in theaters as a joke because i thought it was going to be stupid. I was in awe the entire time. One of the best going to the movie theater experiences i have ever had
When Sigourney Weaver came out my friend literally shouted “that’s where the budget went”
Loved this movie. I remember starting to watch, and get more and more intrigued as the story progressed.
I thought the only mistake they'd made was revealing the forcefield too early, with the bird flying into it. It took away from the motorbike death... but I quite enjoyed this one.
I like the Left 4 Dead special infected being part of all those different monsters they could have chosen 🤣
I’m so happy you have covered my favorite movie
Mordecai, the gas station guy, is the only one taking this seriously. He's not the harbinger _of death,_ just the harbinger. He has the gift of foresight, and he uses it to explain how the "insolence of fool" nearly made him go off character and be too aggressive with him. He sees the problem of marty not being as subdued as he should be and tries to explain, but his delivery is so serious that him being on speakerphone makes all the workers laugh because they don't take their jobs seriously. It's so well written, it shows how horror has degraded to people who just assume they dont need to take the movie seriously in order to make a good movie. Truman is the personification of the writers of this movie, they take the project seriously and they actually make the best horror movie in ages along with clever commentary on the industry itself.
I mean no offense, but this is a review from the office workers who just go through the motions. There was no reason for a sequel, the story is done and the message has been delivered. If there was a sequel, it would be like _American Psycho 2_ or _kindergarten cop 2_ because the story would be about the world the movie created, it wouldn't be a sequel to what the movie was.
I think you may have not picked up on what the ending was supposed mean. It's meta commentary, the ancient ones are quite literally supposed to be Us, the film goers watching the film.
This is taken from the wiki:
"In the metafiction meaning, the whole film is a criticism to horror film clichés and conventions, down to the point of having the American Ritual itself as a play on the final girl trope. Given this fact, the Ancient Ones are a postmodern way the film authors (Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon) have their say on how the horror film fans have grown old of primal fears in films, constantly asking for different and more elaborate experiences in horror fiction that has lead to, ironically, many more chiché filled films and a decadence on the genre. In other words, the Ancient Ones are the public itself that is watching the film."
NOT EVERY MOVIE NEEDS A SEQUEL!! (or prequel). Cabin In The Woods is my favorite horror film of all time.
I love this movie. It really does the meta very well and a homage to horror overall
People upstairs are the directors of a horror movie, and the old ones are the movie viewer 😂
For some reason my algorithm thought I would enjoy this video. It was correct.
My favorite movie. It was a pleasure to watch it in the cinema
The one thing i would change about this movie would be to remove the eagle force field forwshadowing, it did not need to be set up so hard given that the audience knows the level of tech involved from other scenes. if the first time we saw it was the bike jump scene it would have sold the despair of the remaining protagonists as the audience would be equally surprised in the moment instead of knowing what was coming for the five minutes of buildupand discussion between the characters before the actual bike jump.
Literally, the movie could just be trimmed to remove the bird scene and i feel like that'd make such a huge tonal difference in the later bike scene.
So no kidding I worked at a movie theater when this came out and I actually had a couple come out and say hey guys I think you're playing the wrong movie I don't know what this intro is on this and I was like dude You got to trust me it's part of the movie You got to get back in there right now lol
So this movie reminds me of a story that also tries to take a meta look at horror movies, Although it's a serialized web novel instead of a movie. The game at carousel which follows a group of people trapped in a hellish world where they have to continually live through horror movies as their chosen archetypes, And if they want who survive at all they have to play into those roles. Would highly recommend
The classic troupe-of-teenage-monster-fodder are great, but I think the office team is even better, because they are, in a way, in their own horror story:
They see people being horrifically killed, they only have the choice to either aid and abet in that or sacrifice the entire world to their moral standards.
I imagine that most of them started out like the one New Guy: shocked both at what they see on the screen and at how the office people react. And then you either quit and are mind-wiped, or you stay on and find a way to deal: detachment, bets, graveyard humor, tequila ...
And I really liked Sigourney Weaver's character: she honestly wants to keep the world from ending, and this is the only way to do it ... and also for that ''we work with what we get'' line .
Classic Joss Whedon.
Thought it was an awesome movie but I agree it kinda didn’t know what to do with the ending. I would definitely watch a sequel
They could make a prequel about how this deal between the gods and humans created in the first place. Which would lead to a sequel of any surviving humans of the New World starting the process again
I absolutely LOVED this movie. I understand that, while a sequel is not possible with how the movie ended, I don’t see why they can’t make a prequel.
There’s SO many ways they could spin things with a prequel or even multiple prequels since there’s many monsters to work with.
The Cabin In The Woods was an amazing movie honestly.
I've just gone through a few more of your videos today (I've seen plenty beforehand), including A Quiet Place, Lost, The Crazies, & I Am Legend. I was wondering, have you ever heard of the show Falling Skies?
I always assumed that the ancient ones were supposed to represent us. If us, the audience, aren't satisfied with the movies that come out, then the whole genre (which would be their world) comes crumbling down. It adds onto the theme of studios sticking to cookie cutter movies to not risk the audience hating the movie.
I absolutely LOVE how there is no happy ending. This movie had balls and that made it great.
My dad used to burn random movies onto dvds and this was one of them, nothing prepared me for this incredible plot and for a couple years I never met anyone else who had even heard of it
“Naw man I ain’t going in there it reminds me of a horror movie once saw the one with the cabin in the woods” - Mac miller 2013
I believe when they talk about the people upstairs they’re referring to the ancient ones not the director (Sigourney Weaver) because the entire ritual is a show for them so they have to keep the people upstairs happy.