Final Image analysis. The Cabin in the Woods

This scene from The Cabin on the Woods shows how genre conventions still exists and are used in modern horror movies.  In the centre of the shot we have the stereotypical male hero, the one who is going to save the day for everybody in the horror movie. We can see his strength though the iconography of the sports jacket. This tells us the audience that Curt is a ‘jock’.

Curt is also the leader as we can see him centre shot and the two character hiding behind him waiting for him to lead the way forward. To the left of him is the female victim, Jules. We can see this through her code of dress, the very short and reviling clothing suggest she likes to show of her body. Also the colour of her hair is blonde which has always been the stereotypical hair of the victim. To prove this point, Jules is the first character to be killed.  

I also like the mise-en-scene, with the dark cellar hidden underneath the cabin. This adds to the film’s already creepy atmosphere with the use of stereotypical, enclosed setting. This scene also uses great collision from slow->fast to build suspense and then deliveries a big pay off, as after this slow sequence we have a quick montage if the zombie family rising from their graves.

They keep these stereotypes because they work so well. There is nothing wrong in making something new but keeping some of the conventions. The genre of horror is a perfect example of if “it isn’t broke don’t fix it.” Although The Cabin in the Woods is a modern action horror, it still uses classic stereotypes in the film to let the audience know it still part of the genre.  This is a perfect example of Schatz’s Genre Theory. The director Drew Goddard uses the stereotypical conventions to make sure they pull the genre fans along to the film. Although the film is a battle against convention, it still needs to appear to be a horror to get the horror films to come along.

The Cabin in the Woods is an action horror movie that battles the genre as a whole. It looks at why all the stereotypes exist and if there is something behind it all. It’s really interesting to see the conventions being planned by an organization, a twist never done before in the genre. The Cabin in the Woods steps back and takes a look at why these stereotypes happen, and the reason why they keep turning up all over the genre.