Publication Date: 04-26-2025

The Cabin in the Woods (2012) review

Dir. Joss Whedon

By: Steve Pulaski

Rating: ★★★

NOTE: This review is a mix of my original thoughts, written and published back in 2012 upon The Cabin in the Woods‘ initial theatrical release, as well as some updated thoughts (noted below) after seeing it in theaters again during AMC Theaters’ “Relive the Horror” series in May 2026.

Cultists and horror fans rejoice. The genre is long from dead. Especially since we have people like Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon hellbent on filing the rough edges and cementing the cracks. For years we have been met with shameless remakes, lame sequels, found footage disasters, and only once in a while does a truly memorable horror flick break through the bleak and droning clutter. Here, we have an original, crafty, and exciting flick in the genre that resorts to not only mocking the clichés commonly used in horror films but also possibly inventing some new ones of its own.

This is the last thing I was expecting to say about a film titled The Cabin in the Woods, but after months of anticipation and article after article it has finally been released. I remember the original plot that was leaked on IMDB in January: “Five friends go to a remote cabin in the woods. Bad things happen.” I thought to myself, “you already have a film with a trite, uninspired title, and now you release a plot that doesn’t even try?” Little did I know I was being played. I saw the first trailer and was mesmerized. What would appear to be a stock, wooden (pun intended) exercise mixed with a heap of tired, worn clichés was what looked to be a promising and intelligent horror film. Those thoughts stay with me after viewing as well.

Usually in my reviews I try and give a sufficient description of the plot. For Cabin in the Woods, I refuse. You’re left with your wits, your assumptions, and that simple premise I quoted. I went in with that knowledge and the camaraderie I witnessed in the trailers. There’s absolutely no reason anything else has to be said or given away. The five characters are standard horror archetypes that we’ve seen a countless number of times, and the film isn’t shy about reminding us. The last twenty-five minutes of the film are relentless and, by then, the movie’s title seemed to be practically void and nonexistent to me.

I ended up catching The Cabin in the Woods on the big-screen again in 2026, thanks to AMC Theaters’ “Relive the Horror” series that saw defining horror films of multiple eras re-released on the silver screen. Doing so reminded me how transcendent and different Goddard’s film felt when modern horror felt like a wasteland, before a mid-2010s renaissance that’s happily continued deep into the 2020s. What struck me the second time around was the performances. Despite being archetypal, multiple individuals stand-out, specifically Fran Kranz as a stoner, who is one step ahead of the trickery unfolding in the cabin. Anna Hutchinson is also given a couple sultry moments, specifically one involving a taxidermy wolf head mounted on the wall, and doesn’t disappoint on a level that converges sex appeal with shock value.

That said, I kept wrestling with the idea of whether or not the innerworkings of the plot, or more specifically, the cabin itself, should’ve been revealed so early on in the film. There is one scene that shouldn’t exist, and it’s an early, overhead aerial shot involving an eagle. It effectively gives away what I’d deem as one of the bigger reveals of the movie. Worst of all, it undermines the shock of a later scene involving a motorcycle, which could’ve been a “jaw-on-the-floor” moment had it not been for that damn eagle.

Goddard and Whedon might’ve gotten a little too cutesy-mutesy, but they clearly have a vision, and executed it at a time when horror was in a funk. What does it tell us when Goddard and Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods was more enjoyable and daring than Wes Craven’s My Soul to Take?

At the time of its release, it was also a blessing to see Cabin get a substantial release in 2D. Originally, when the rights were under MGM’s name, an up-conversion to 3D was proposed and thankfully abandoned. I found parts of Cabin to be a tad dark and hazy. Glasses that add an extra dimension that noticeably dim the light of a picture would’ve tarnished the experience. Maybe if I had some of the stuff Marty (Kranz) had everything would become clear to me.

Starring: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, Richard Jenkins, and Bradley Whitford. Directed by: Drew Goddard.