Take bets! It’s Night 8 of our 13 Nights of Halloween Horror. What will our doomed teenagers choose? The haunted book? A cursed coin? Will we summon a mummy? A demon? A mermaid?!?
The only horror-comedy on our list, The Cabin in the Woods (2011) really leans into the tropes of modern horror. You have the promiscuous college girl, the jock, the stoner, the nice guy and… the virgin! Also known in local parlance as the Final Girl. Or, so you think. But this movie is rigged from the get-go.
None of the scares and deaths in this movie are naturally occurring. Even the sex scene is chemically induced. The gang can’t leave the cabin not because it’s doomed, but because a super-secret, ultra-powerful, and incredibly wealthy cabal is calling the shots, for reasons that become clearer as the movie unfolds.
I won’t spoil the fun, but let’s just say a very delightful cameo by one of the horror/sci-fi goats, Sigourney Weaver, ties this wild and gory romp through all of horror’s classics together. Also, what happens to Chris Hemsworth (yes that one) makes me cry laughing every time.
The Cabin in the Woods is available for members of the American University community to borrow on DVD from Bender Library.
Come back tomorrow to see our pick for Night 9 of the 13 Nights of Halloween Horror.