The Cabin in the Woods movie review

Nothing could be a more happening vacation for five happy-go-lucky youngsters than taking off to the woods. But then the woods have never really been that safe. The Cabin in the Woods is more about the 'why factor' than the 'how factor': Why do the lambs (a group of bubbly teens) cross the gates and reach the killing ground (a haunted cabin in the middle of nowhere) in almost every horror movie? Why do the lambs choose to part ways to combat the evil dead in almost every horror movie? Or for that matter, why do those who usually coochy coo in almost every horror movie choose to do it in the most deadliest of spots? Well, that's how it's meant to be in the scary world. Period. But before that, here's the not-so-good news for horror buffs: Except for a very few genuine scares - heads being separated from bodies, a woman whispering in the dead of night, blood and gore everywhere -- The Cabin in the Woods has nothing much in store when it comes to giving you the real jeebies. But then the movie has loads of the guessing games that could leave the same horror fan pretty satisfied. After all, horror works till victims make their free (and often wrong) choice... till they keep on suffering... till the cliches are in place. Cliche 1: Five teens want to get a little wild in the woods during their vacation time. They are the typical horror victims -- Curt ( Chris Hemsworth) who thinks he is all cool and hot, Miss Perfect Dana (Kristen Connolly); Jules (Anna Hutchison) for whom looking blond is the in-thing, the ever-swearing funny guy, Marty ( Fran Kranz) and Mr Sober Guy Holden ( Jesse Williams). Cliche 2: The destination they choose is a place that does not show up on the GPS, where traffic cameras do not exist, where the last fuel station does not accept credit cards. Cliche 3: What follows next is perhaps easy to guess: a two-way mirror, a painting of blood sucking creatures , a cellar perfect to play truth or dare, a basement full of strange and weird items, and finally a disturbing journal of Anna Buckner, which when read has the dead rising from their graves. So far so good. But then as the gruesome killing of teens continue, what keeps you on the edge is the question the movie actually began with: the why factor. Why can't horror movies live without its cliches? Is it about controlling the outcome? Or is it about ritual sacrifices - that of the ancient gods, that of fate, and that of new age viewers (the betting game and reality shows)? For answers, get to the basement of the cabin in that dark wood for there's something diabolic cooking down there. From/timesofindia