The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

"You think you know the story."  I loved this movie so much that I'd like to hug it and hold it and call it George.  It's as if Joss Whedon wrote it especially for me.

This movie has as its basic plot the plot of so many other horror movies:  A group of attractive young adults of mixed gender and race (depending on the year made, that is) take a trip into the backwoods to stay at a cabin/house/abandoned mental hospital and have sex/get drunk/etc.  Spookiness and gory, possibly creative murders ensue.  And yet this movie is so much more than that.  Have you seen it?  Go and see it!  Seriously.

It's officially spoilery to say anything else about the movie, but as the movie itself starts by letting you know you're in for something unusual, I guess we'll have to crack on.  The movie starts not with our young heroes setting off on their journey, but with two middle management looking middle-aged guys in white dress shirts in a laboratory.  We see them banter and talk about their latest project and then BANG, in a shot that made me jump (and I never jump), the title hits the screen in huge, blood red letters.  Right across the dull laboratory set up as the two middle managers wheel off in a golf cart.  Fabulous.

Suffice it to say, there is much more than meets the eye in this film.  But along the way, there is utter hilarity.  You have to love the movie for having Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins as the dryly hilarious management guys.  And Fran Kranz as stoner Marty was completely hilarious.  And even the rest of the group, from the alpha male to the hot girlfriend to the smart guy (he wears glasses in one scene!) to the hot girl's smart friend are interesting, slightly complicated characters.

And the amazing creativity as the story unfolds!  It becomes clear (SO SPOILER) pretty early on that this cabin and these kids are part of some sort of scientific experiment or something.  And when the kids get into the laboratory and we see some of the other horrors in reserve--it's just awesome.  A horror movie fan's dream--not in a pandery way, but in a smart, respectful way.  Blink and you'll miss the twins from the Shining.  And is that the werewolf from American Werewolf in London?  So cool.  I've never wished so much for a freeze button at the movie theater.

So in short, it's an amazing film--smart, funny, thrilling, beautiful to look at (if you don't mind a little gore)--and it turns horror movie cliches upside down.  Truly one of the best movies I've ever seen.  Yay!  All praise to you, Joss Whedon.  All is forgiven for those bad, last years of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

The Uninvited (2009)

They say you can't judge a book by its cover--however, with horror films, you sometimes can.  Think of classic posters like that for Halloween, and The Exorcist.  Then think about the posters for slasher films like Happy Birthday to Me or any poster that includes scantily clad women and dripping blood.  There's a definite difference between a horror movie poster with pretensions to art (or even a mainstream audience) and one that is clearly b-movie material.

Here's the thing about The Uninvited:  This poster tells you NOTHING about the film.  It definitely doesn't tell you that it's a remake of an acclaimed Korean horror film (A Tale of Two Sisters), and it doesn't tell you that it stars high-caliber acting talent like David Straithairn.  But once you get past that, and actually pick up this movie, it's a pleasant surprise.

As the movie begins, teenager Anna is being released from a mental institution, where she had been placed after the death of her mother and her suicide attempt.  She returns home (to a beautiful, beautiful Maine home) to her father, her sister and her father's creepy new girlfriend where she tries to figure out what happened the night of her mother's death.

The Uninvited is beautifully filmed and makes the most of its gorgeous Maine location and amazing house.  Universally well-acted, the characters are strong, engaging and complex.  There's no doubt about it--this is a really good horror film.  There's only one problem:  It's not scary.  It's interesting, it has compelling plot twists, it features some spooky imagery . . . but no scares.  Still good, though!