The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Finally I'm seeing this movie.  I first wrote about this back in 2009 and it's since been delayed for a variety of reasons.  But finally I have it on Blu Ray and I am excited!  All I keep hearing about this movie is: "It's awesome, but it's just so fucking weird."  So I have learned exactly nothing about this movie from anyone I have asked.

Note to oblivious guys, girls never prance around in front of an open window in their panties, and we certainly don't forget we're not wearing pants in the presence of their friend's boyfriend.  Also, this pothead makes stoners more annoying than funny.  So, we've got two scenarios -- a bunch of people in a fancy science lab, and a bunch of college students off for a weekend in the woods.  A curmudgeonly old man warns the group about the house, but they don't take it seriously, of course.  The house looks like a replica from The Evil Dead, which I'm sure was intended.  I'm expecting this film to be chock-full of nods to the horror genre. 

I guess the little catch to this whole vacation is that the inhabitants are being watched by these crazy science people.  They also seem to be quite involved with the co-eds, being able to make changes to the environment, and their physiology from afar.  After a game of Truth or Dare, the group finds a basement full of weird crap.  After reading a diary out loud, a family of redneck devil worshippers rise from the dead.  Side note: the blonde in this movie (Jules) is a total hoebag.  And the stoner (Marty) continues to annoy the crap out of me.  Dana and Holden would make a cute couple though.

So as the group is forced to run for their lives, the observers watch from afar, and with great interest.  This is much more than a reality show-type gig, and way different than the voyeuristic slant of the Saw movies.

I don't want to give any more of the plot away, because it's just too much fun.  I kind of freakin' loved this movie.  I adored the little nods to other horror films, squealed with delight over the "purge" scene, gasped at the "cubes" and just liked overall premise of the movie.  The special effects were fantastic, and the actors played right into their stereotypes.  Sure, the ending wasn't that great, but I'm not sure where else it would have gone from there.  Not only was this a fun homage to the genre, but a tongue-in-cheek social commentary of our nation's obsession with reality television.  LOVED it.