The Cabin in the Woods Still Rules on Its 10-Year Anniversary, Even With You Know Who

There are so many things I love about The Cabin in the Woods, all of which are as true today as they were 10 years ago. It’s an exciting, propulsive movie on all levels. It pulls no punches. The ideas in it get exponentially bigger, and the more you think about it, the more interesting it becomes. Beyond just a cool horror film, it’s a meta-dissection of the genre, filmmaking in general, and society as a whole. Both in the film and in reality, there’s way more going on below the surface.

Which brings us back to Joss Whedon. Today, watching anything with Whedon’s name on it, especially something like The Cabin in the Woods which features beautiful young people walking around in their underwear, taking their clothes off, or any manner of over-sexualizing them, makes an audience member with knowledge of his actions take notice. You think, “Does Whedon have bad intentions here?” And even if the answer is “Yes,” in The Cabin in the Woods, it actually does fit and drive the narrative. The Cabin in the Woods is very specifically riffing and subverting horror films of the 1980s which 100% prioritized sex in a very overt, now-dated way. So, to send up a genre, it chooses to call attention to the genre. The story also makes it clear that sex is part of what’s needed to appease the gods. OK, then there’s also a very creepy scene of dozens of men staring and waiting for Hutchison’s character to take her top off, which is excessive and not funny like it was probably intended in 2012, but again, it’s on a checklist. It has to be done, or the world ends.

And ultimately, after all that, that The Cabin in the Woods has the guts to end by destroying everything and everyone on Earth just puts the whole thing over the top. The world where all these lewd, crude things are OK is wiped away. It’s time for humanity to end and someone else to get a chance, the characters say. Which, in 2012, seemed kind of weird and overly pessimistic. But after the decade we’ve suffered since, it rings way truer now. Our world might actually be beyond saving. And The Cabin in the Woods wipes those wrongs away with two teenagers smoking a joint.

Upon release, The Cabin in the Woods ended up doing OK at the box office, grossing about double its budget. Not bad, but not good enough for the studio to think about sequels. If it had been a hit though, despite its kitchen-sink mentality, there were certainly other stories that could have been told. Prequels with other victims. Concurrent stories set in different countries. The fallout of the gods being unleashed. All of these stories, hypothetically, could have been told. But they’re all unnecessary. The Cabin in the Woods did the thing audiences always say they want but rarely appreciate. Original, exciting, contained storytelling with an edge. And this one’s as sharp as ever 10 years after its release, even with that one dark mark.

The Cabin in the Woods isn’t streaming for free but is available on Blu-ray and to rent or buy on most digital services.

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