Cabin in the Woods: God Have Mercy

Where to even begin my review of Cabin in the Woods...

Well, the film begins with a couple of very official looking men making small talk while walking through a seemingly bland office environment, but then BAM a very grindhouse-esque, red block letter title appears and we cut to the typical horror teenagers: the stoner, jock, cheerleader girlfriend, sensitive new guy and the daddy's girl virgin. We soon find out the group plan on staying in a (spoiler!) cabin in the woods. However, in an odd turn of events, our two office buddies from scene one return and we discover that they're controlling everything that goes on from a high-tech lab in an undisclosed location.

It''s hard to say how I feel about this film.

On one hand, I loved how it very purposely set itself up using the 80's horror film formula. It was also just chock full of great references to Evil Dead, Hellraiser, Japanese horror, King Kong, and many more, which made it pretty enjoyable to watch and pick apart. The special effects were great, there were some awesome kills, and it even had a few pretty funny moments too, which made me think of Evil Dead 2.

However, on the other hand, the story got a bit tripped up towards the end. It almost felt as if they were just writing it as they went along, leading up to the incredibly disappointing ending that explained little to nothing about the events of the film.

So it's the type of film that really just needs to be seen to get a good idea of whether or not its for you, because I'm still not sure how I feel about it days after viewing it.