I am introducing a new monthly segment that I have originally entitled trailer trash. These segments will involve a sneak peek at the months’ upcoming horror films (based on U.K. release dates) and mini-reviews based on the contents of the trailers. So if you have survived the zombies on the forecourts and the increased tax on your hot human flesh pasty what new horrors does the rest of April have in store for us?
The Cabin in the Woods 09/04/12
There is already a lot of buzz around this film, mostly due to Joss Whedon involvement as producer. One Whedon fanboy kindly pointed out to me that The Cabin in the Woods apparently cannot be a bad film because Joss Whedon created Firefly (2002)… Personally, I could not care any less about Firefly if I tried but I am a fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003), and therefore willing to give my friend’s comments the benefit of the doubt.
The trailer begins with a group of twenty some-things taking a trip in their camper van up into the woods to stay at a remote cabin. This is all very reminiscent of about a thousand other films most notably The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974, Hooper . T) and the Friday the 13th films, and some of the characters are already saying inane things about ‘getting off the grid’ that scream ‘please kill me’ but hopefully this is all a ruse, we are all being lured into a false sense of security that this is just another cabin in the woods flick, when really this is something entirely better.
Directed and co-written by Drew Goddard the guy who wrote Cloverfield (2008, Reeves . M) (a film he didn’t get half enough credit for due to Mr. Whedon looming in the background again) which was actually a really great original movie, The Cabin in the Woods looks like it could be a relentless and original horror. This is re-enforced when we see the cabin itself in the trailer with its two-way mirrors, hidden cameras and lift to hidden levels. Looking at the poster this could be Saw in the woods, but fingers crossed it will be more substantial than that. All though I just quickly have to point out that the CG bird flying into the CG electric fence is so bad it reeks of Terra Nova (2011)
Gone 16/04/12
Amanda Seyfried stars in what looks from the trailer to be a detective thriller with horror leanings in the ebb of classics like Silence of the Lambs (1991, Demme . J) and Kiss the Girls (1997, Fleder . G). Seyfried escapes the clutches of a murderer who has her down a pit in the woods only for the police to disbelieve her story, so when the killer comes back to get her and takes her sister instead, she must investigate her sister’s disappearance on her own, alone and with no one to trust.
Gone seems to basically use the same plot as Kiss the Girls minus Morgan Freeman, but as Seyfried is a reasonably good actress it is nice to see her take on the lead. Wes Bentley was in the trailer but the trailer tried not to focus on his presence too much, which leads me to believe that he is probably the killer. However similarity of plot aside I think this film will be worth a watch, and I am looking forward to seeing it.
The Divide 16/04/12
A quick mention for The Divide which I have heard literally nothing about other than online and am therefore not convinced that it will get a wide cinema release. However, the trailer makes it look amazing. The Divide, which I would class as an apocalyptic survival horror, begins with a nuclear blast and the residents of an apartment block heading for the bunker in their basement. Some make it, others are shut out. Those who survive the blast inside the shelter must then survive each other. This also happens to be one of Michael Biehn’s more high profile films for a while and as everyone who has seen Terminator (1984, Cameron . J) or Aliens (1986, Cameron . J) knows he is a legend!
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