The Cabin in the Woods, dir. Drew Goddard

Wiz RECOMMENDS The Cabin in the Woods

After watching The Cabin in the Woods, there was one thing I found interesting after the credits: that it not only lampooned the tropes of its genre in a different way, but that it did so as a matter of reverence, not of scorn.

Then again, this isn't new for the horror genre. Films like Scream have not only poked fun at the genre, but also celebrated it. Which is something I wish other types of genres would do more of.

Regardless, The Cabin in the Woods is a good time, even for someone who isn't a fan of horror like myself.

In honesty, what's fun about the film isn't the horror: the slasher trope laden sequences with the five college co-eds are laden with tropes, stereotypes and formula that if it wasn't attached to this film, it would probably be on auto-pilot.

But the slasher story is generic by design: those sequences help bolster the creatively funny embedded narrative that surrounds the film.

That story is about government/corporate stooges (Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford) that control what is happening to the teens...for yet another narrative device in the background of them.

The scenes in the office are often funny, thanks to the performances by Jenkins and Whitford.

It's also helped by the less serious nature of the film itself. It pokes fun, doesn't take itself seriously...but takes the story itself seriously enough for those who clearly have a reverence for it.

I'm betting if I were a bigger horror fan, The Cabin in the Woods would be more than a curious good time: it would be one of my favorites.

And yet, it will be my ignorance (and unwillingness to dive into the genre) that will keep me from enjoying it more than it's meant to.

But it sure says something that someone like me who actively tries to avoid the genre found enough to enjoy the film.