By
Adrian Smith
The Cabin in the Woods takes its
inspiration from the endless number of horror movies that begin with the killings
of unsuspecting teenagers at summer camps, lakeside log cabins and other remote
locations. Joss Whedon is a writer, director and producer who will be familiar
to any fans of genre television from the last twenty years, having been
responsible for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse, Firefly and most
recently the box office smash Avengers Assemble. Whedon and his
co-writer Drew Goddard (who also directed the film) identified the main tropes
of the genre; teenagers go to cabin to take drugs and get laid, get killed off
by psychos, demons or zombies until one lone survivor (usually female) fights
back and destroys the evil forces. Whedon and Goddard questioned just why
audiences keep going back to this over and over again. What possible pleasure
do we get from seeing teenagers being butchered in ever more inventive and
outlandish ways? Are the films reactionary, punishing the kids for their
immoral behaviour? Thankfully Whedon and Goddard don't necessarily set out to
answer these questions. The Cabin in the Woods is not a treatise on the
evils of horror films, like that delivered by Michael Haneke in Funny Games
(1997). What they have done is to create a film which follows these conventions
whilst simultaneously presenting their own version of the truth behind why it
is all happening. To say any more at this point would be to give too much away.
This is a film best enjoyed when you know as little about it as possible.
'The
Cabin in the Woods: The Official Visual Companion' is a book that you should
only look at once you have seen the film, as no twist or turn is left
unspoiled. The book contains the complete original screenplay illustrated with
dozens of stills from the movie and also includes scenes that were not shot for
budgetary reasons. What the book does best, however, is cover the writing and
filming process in detail through an extensive interview with Whedon and
Goddard, accompanied by plenty of behind the scenes photos and design sketches.
They discuss the problems of trying to shoot a summer movie in Canada during
the winter (snow!) and how they divided up the writing between them, providing
fascinating insight for any budding screenwriters. A large section of the book
is given over to the design of the film, with interviews from key players and
hundreds of photos, models, sketches and on-set photographs. The filmmakers
insisted on using physical effects over CGI wherever possible, meaning that
almost one hundred craftsmen and technicians were involved in putting the film
together on a relatively low budget and tight schedule.
The Cabin in the Woods was completed in
2010 but sat gathering dust on a shelf owing to the financial problems of MGM,
and was finally distributed by Lionsgate earlier this year. It really is a must
see not only for horror film fans, but for anyone interested in genuinely
intelligent and original filmmaking. 'The Cabin in the Woods: The Official
Visual Companion' is an excellent opportunity to pour over the intricate design
process and enjoy every last detail that may have been missed in the breathless
rush towards the film's conclusion. Just don't look at the book first.
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