It has been 14 years since one of the most brilliant meta-horror movies arrived, and while it roasted the entire genre, it still stands as a great addition to the genre on its own. For years, horror movies mostly lived in their own worlds, and while people knew the rules of each specific genre, most of the movies played it fair and didn’t take people out of the moment that they were watching a horror movie. Wes Craven changed that in the 90s, first with Wes Craven’s New Nightmare and then with Scream. Soon, horror was referencing the genre constantly in its own movies, but nothing did it better than this movie from 2012.
On April 13, 2012, The Cabin in the Woods hit theaters and it roasted the entire horror genre, while also standing on its own as one of the best horror films of the 21st century. What resulted was a movie that explained all previous horror movies were often planned and manipulated by unseen forces. It was even supposed to get a sequel that neve happened.
The Cabin in the Woods Perfectly Deconstructed the Horror Genre
Image Courtesy of Lionsgate
The Cabin in the Woods was the directorial debut for Drew Goddard based on a script he co-wrote with Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon. What the film does is brilliant, as it not only deconstructs the entire genre, but it plays in the same playground, using the same rules, but adds some brilliant winks to the audience along the way. The movie uses the classic archetypes in a precise manner, with the Virgin, the Athlete, the Scholar, the Fool, and the Party Girl. However, what happens next is the revelation these kids were not accidentally thrown together and were specifically chosen by puppet masters in an underground facility.
While shown as scientists and other brilliant minds, it is clear these puppet masters represent the producers, writers, and directors of horror movies, and these character archetypes they chose were deliberate and manipulated to tell their stories. In this same underground layer are cages holding every kind of monster available, from beings that look like Cenobites to hillbilly cannibals, zombies, and any other kind of monster imaginable that a movie studio could choose from for their movie.
However, The Cabin in the Woods then takes a deliberate action and shows that these are real scientists and possible cultists, as they are sacrificing these kids to the monsters on a regular basis to keep the ancient gods from destroying the world. This allows the horror to remain real, even as it remains a smart and biting critique of horror and the movie industry in general, with the audience as the “ancient gods” consuming the horrific moments for their own entertainment.
By the time the movie ended with one of the most shocking moments in horror movie history, it was a crowd pleasing film that delivered on every level. It was funny. It had terrifying moments. It was smartly written and directed as a social commentary on why people love horror movies. The cast, including a pre-super stardom Chris Hemsworth, were masterful in their roles. Everything clicked perfectly, and while the ending was self-contained and closed off this storyline, fans always hoped for a sequel.
Despite Critical Acclaim, a Cabin in the Woods Sequel Never Happened
Image Courtesy of Lionsgate
There were plenty of reasons to have a sequel to The Cabin in the Woods, with the only reason not to was that it seemed to have ended perfectly and there was nowhere left to go in the story. However, it has a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score, showing that critics loved it. The horror movie was also a minor box office success, making $66.5 million worldwide on a $30 million budget. This led to Lionsgate wanting to move forward with a sequel, with Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon both returning. However, it never happened, and the ending’s world-breaking moment left little room for a sequel in that story’s universe.
Drew Goddard himself explained why it was hard to get a Cabin in the Woods sequel off the ground after Lionsgate came calling for more. In an interview with Fandango, Goddard said, “We sort of painted ourselves into a corner with the ending of Cabin in the Woods. It’s not a thing that calls for an easy sequel, I’ll tell you that much.” Goddard said he and Whedon had some “crazy ideas,” but they both said they didn’t want to do it unless they felt strongly about the story. That never happened. “I just feel like that continues to be the perfect ending for that movie and I never want to undercut it.”
The sequel faces one of the toughest tasks of any horror movie. Could it survive without the big surprise from the first movie, when it was learned that the entire thing was a setup to stop the ancient gods? While the original movie opened with the scientists, it was a confusing scene that wasn’t explained until the big twist later when the kids found the underground facility. With the audience going in and knowing what is going on, it is no longer a meta-commentary and a straight-forward horror film. However, with the right screenwriter and director, it could still work by breaking down the horror genre even further, and it it comes anywhere close to The Cabin in the Woods first film’s script, that is a sequel that needs to be made.
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