Cabin in the Woods

There were several ways “Cabin in the Woods” both subtly and obviously mirrored horror movies. For example, they made sure to include cliché monsters, such as zombies or werewolves and cliché characters, such as the innocent, big-eyed girl or the jock guy. I think that this movie pokes fun at the whole horror genre in order to get the viewer thinking about what actually makes a horror movie, a horror movie. If anyone can employ these techniques, then what makes these movies so terrifying? Perhaps it’s not the context, but rather the underlying implications. In the film, the inhabitants of the cabin were ultimately brought there to be sacrificed to some demonic god that ruled the Earth on which they lived. The protagonists had to be killed for the greater good, and therefore should have just allowed themselves to be sacrificed. To me, this was disturbing. I would not want my life to be sacrificed for the “greater good,” especially since the characters had no say in who was chosen. The fact that humanity can do such horrible things to each other in order to benefit the majority is terrifying. It makes me question if they care about an individual’s life at all.