Cabin in the Woods, produced by Joss Whedon and directed by Drew Goddard, was made so long ago it cast Chris Hemsworth when he was some unknown Aussie actor and not, y'know, Thor. But after years of delays Cabin in the Woods is finally set to hit theaters on April 13 next year, and hot on the heels of the first poster that let you know the story had a twist in the most literal way possible, there's a trailer that explains just what that twist is. You've been warned: if you wanted to go into this thing totally fresh, you might want to avoid this. Here's the trailer, via Yahoo!.
Despite the obvious twist that's revealed here-- that cliched spooky cabin in the woods is not the cliche it seems!-- the trailer is actually holding back a little. We don't know exactly why these kids are being systematically tortured by mysterious people controlling everything, and when one character says to the other "They want to see us punished," it's unclear who "they" is. They could be tortured as a live-action horror movie for the benefit of wealthy patrons, or broadcast on live TV-- I haven't read the script or seen the movie, so I have no idea. And there's no sign in this trailer of Bradley Whitford or Richard Jenkins, the veteran actors cast in the film in super-mysterious roles that nobody would talk about. Presumably they're involved in the shadowy operation to torture these kids, but it's pretty unclear how that works.
Cabin in the Woods looks to be filling the typical springtime horror movie slot that's been occupied by garbage like the Nightmare on Elm Street remake in the past, but this time the movie might actually be any good. It's hard to know if Cabin in the Woods will be as well-made as it appears to be clever, but horror fans should at least be relieved that they'll be treated a little smarter this time around.
