I’m sure all of you have heard about a film from 1996 called ‘Scream.’ Directed by Wes Craven and written by the masterful Kevin Williamson, the film is most famous for revitalizing the horror genre at the time. After countless sequels to legendary franchises like ‘Halloween.’ ‘Friday the 13^th,’ and ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street,’ the horror genre was as good as dead (no pun intended). But thanks to ‘Scream’s tongue-in-cheek humor, witty characters, and smart dialogue, horror films were a hot commodity again, specifically the teen slasher. Some were great, others not so much.

But once again it seems the horror genre is dying again. Instead of sequels, we are treated to dozens of remakes to our favorite horror classics. The aforementioned legendary franchises I spoke of earlier have all received the remake/reboot treatment, along with many others. While I love a good remake as much as the next guy (‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and ‘The Last House on the Left’ remakes rocked!), the genre has become tired and unoriginal once again. But that all could change by this week’s end with the release of ‘The Cabin in the Woods.’

You may have heard about this upcoming flick, but you probably don’t realize the impact it may have on audiences. At a first glance, the film seems kind of a throwaway. I mean the title is just so literal and the storyline – Five college friends go to a remote cabin in the woods, bad things happen – has been done countless times before. But then you take a step back and realize, maybe that is all intentional? Further investigation shows the film is written by fanboy favorites Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard (the two worked on the ‘Buffy’ series together and the latter is known for ‘Lost). And once you know they’re involved it becomes clear there is much more to this picture than meets the eye. There was a lot of buzz when this film was first previewed back in February, but the secrets of the plot were kept tightly under wraps. And now the reviews are finally trickling in, and it looks good, real good. With an impressive 91% on Rotten Tomatoes (especially for a “scary movie”) it is clear this film is not your typical slasher. And critics cannot speak more highly of it:

“Not since Scream has a horror movie subverted the expectations that accompany the genre to such wicked effect…” – Peter Debruge, Variety

“Absolutely genius movie. Totally brilliant…I don’t know how anyone can possibly make a horror movie again…” – MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher

“Witty, scary, and incredibly inventive. This is a must-see genre bending horror movie – miss it at your peril…” – Simon Reynolds, Digital Spy

And the positive reviews keep on coming! So I have to ask, could this be the next ‘Scream’? Without going into spoiler territory, the critics seem to praise it for its cleverness and tongue-in-cheek humor in regards to the genre. Might this actually rejuvenate horror and bring back inventive and original thinking? Only time will tell, but for now I can’t be more excited for this film! Stay tuned for a review!

Will you check out ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ this weekend Banters?