OK, for those who have not yet seen the recently-released The Cabin in the Woods (opened in April) and for some reason, still want to: STOP READING RIGHT NOW!! Warning: ahead lie Spoilers; read forward at thy own risk. Seriously, don’t read even down to the next paragraph (cause I’m going to blow the movie for you), but if you continue any further (last chance to stop now), it’s your own fault if this really horrible and awful movie gets blown all-to-pieces for you (movie-wise):
What is it about “Paganism”- or at least, “really ancient, Polytheistic Gods-Worshipping Belief-Systems”- that makes people latch onto “Human Sacrifice”?
Never mind the spate of British films throughout the ’60s that ended with: AND THE WITCHES (read: PAGANS) WERE SACRIFICING HUMANS!! This trend (culminating in the original Wicker Man) had the innocence of the 1960s and early ’70s behind it. What about the two post-2000s remakes of The Wicker Man? (Both of which conclude with, And these Cults of modern-day Pagans continue the practice of HUMAN SACRIFICE, and one of which has the added disgrace of starring Nicolas Cage.) What about the recent novel The Stonehenge Legacy? (Which concludes with the shocking revelation that, this ancient Pagan Cult of Stonehenge continues to this day: HUMAN SACRIFICE!!) What about the British columnist, quoted by Jason at The Wild Hunt, reacting to a school-ciriculum in Cornwall, England, treating the British Cultural Past of Pagan Traditions, by asking (essentially): “What’s next? End-of-Term marked by the Black Mass and HUMAN SACRIFICE?” And what about this recent Hollywood release (the most gonzo in the category), depicting a rustic Cabin In The Woods: home to a really (really) elaborate, especially modern-day, ritualistically-constructed scene of Polytheistic HUMAN SACRIFICE!!
This film (I guess) means to be a send-up of the “Hot Young People and Slashers in the Woods” genre; I remember when it came out, but (truthfully) it would never had occurred to me actually to see it, except that a friend phoned me up recently, going, do you know what this movie is about?
On that basis, I purchased a ticket, and can say that I am glad that I did (because now I can report on it), but strictly speaking: this is definitely one of those movies that I could have (really, really well) done without.
In the first place, it is moronically stupid (although it does feature Chris Hemsworth- Marvel Movies’ Thor- demonstrating again that he is a good actor, with a natural sense and versatility enough to bridge both the God of Thunder and this dreck). It opens with the most stereotypically awful group of college-aged youngsters, intent upon a week-end get-away to a remote Cabin in the Woods; as is the way with Slasher flicks, it is very preoccupied with the “sluttiness” of one young lady, contrasted with the prim “virginity” of another. Pity the actress who has to act all “slutty” throughout the movie (until she meets a grisly death at the hands of a torture-porn zombie).
The weird thing is, all of this is being monitored by a bunch of dispassionate corporate types somewhere, turning the concept into a kind of psycho reality show. It’s difficult to know if the film means to be satiric somehow of the dehumanizing effects of voyeuristic entertainment, or if it’s just really stupid, in a “trying to be too smart for its own good” kind of way. In so far as such a demented work can be said to “come together,” its ultimate set-up is revealed as oblique references to the “ritual sacrifices,” “lambs to the killing floor,” and “the Ancient Ones Who see All” coalesce into: this is all an elaborate Human Sacrifice, meant to appease the Dark and Terrible Gods living beneath the Earth.
The kidnapping, terrorizing, and torture-murder of attractive young people (some better actors than others), as Ritual Sacrifice for the Gods Who used to Rule the Earth, the “Ancient Ones” Who will destroy the planet, if these set-up sacrifices are not made: “This we offer.”
By the time that Sigourney Weaver shows up (yes, Sigourney Weaver is in this film, although you’d never know it, cause I guess her contract strictly forbade using her name in association with this sad and unpleasant flick), the film’s equilibrium has steered so completely off, there is no point in trying to treat it seriously any more. Unlike The Wicker Man films (which stage human sacrifices against scenes that look very much like modern Neo-Paganism), Cabin in the Woods finally suggests that the Corporation of Human Sacrifice might be run by particularly twisted Methodists; nonetheless, one is looking at a film that puts “the Ancient Gods Who used to Rule the Earth” together with slasher-shock and ritual murder, prompting the question once again: What IS IT about ancient polytheistic Belief-Systems (like Paganism) that makes people go “human sacrifice”?
I watched and really enjoyed the movie.To me, the ‘ancient ones’ were more of a Lovecraftian/Cthulhu type monsters (since they’re never seen, it’s not specifically stated). And the whole point of taking these complex characters and turning them into tropes is that’s what’s required for this ritual (and in doing so, lampoons the typical horror movie similar to the Scream series). They show that they are more interesting and complex than that – the athlete isn’t a dumb jock, the dumb slut is a premed student who has a steady boyfriend, the virgin had sex with her professor the week before, the scholar is there on athletic scholarship, the fool knows enough to rewire an elevator – but Big Brother (or maybe society as a whole) is determined to place people into boxes that they may not easily fit. And I think Weaver’s name was kept out the way Bill Murray’s name was kept out of Zombieland – it’s a great cameo and revealing it spils the joke.
Umm…did we also miss the part where this is a comedy? Its supposed to be funny; its a mockery/celebration of all things horror past and present while turning it on its head. Since the evil pagan/witch trope is HUGE in horror, especially classic horror, its not something that can be easily ignored. Plus, its friggin’ Joss Whedon. The man is NOT STUPID ENOUGH to piss off the pagan community AGAIN: he learned that lesson the first time after episode 3 “The Witch” of Buffy and American Witches collectively jumped down his throat.
I would agree with McPants, I got a much more Lovecraftian feel from it all. He took the classic evil witch trope and broke it down to ‘evil, archaic forces we have vague knowledge of’.
If this was a comedy, it was one of the most unfunny ones I have ever seen. I’m still looking at an illogical storyline about people engineering the torture-porn deaths of other people (in some sort of global competition) as ritual-sacrifice to appease some species of Ancient Gods: sorry, cannot get my head around why that is either amusing or celebratory. I daresay the humor of this was far too subtle for my comprehension- but then again, as it is one of the most over-the-top films I have ever seen, I’m not picking up on “subtlety” here.
I can understand why you felt this way about “Cabin”. However, being the Joss Whedon fan girl that I am, I have to ask you how much of Whedon’s work you have watched? His sarcasm is biting, kinda like having mercury in Scorpio.
Watching this movie, was so cathartic because it did make fun of so many of the tropes that grate on me in pop culture today. It was a “meta” film marketed as an actual piece of entertainment, so that’s a big part of many folk’s disconnect with the movie. It was a big joke basically. and I do think that Whedon’s humor takes practice to understand. He has a visual and physical language as a director or producer that Is VERY SUBTLE, and often takes multiple watchings to glean what he’s setting up.
It’s more like an atmosphere than a stage direction. For me, he’s a modern day prophet who speaks in oracles or riddles and wants you to chew on the story as much as you can stand.
I told you I was fan girl.
Well, here is an example of why the Juggler is useful for Pagans, as it provides a forum for Pagans to discuss or express their points-of-view regarding Pagan Pop-Culture stuff.
I confess that I am not familiar with Joss Whedon’s oeuvre; I never really got into Buffy, for instance. I guess you Pagans help me to see this as an over-the-top parody- intellectually.
I can’t really imagine ever being at a point where I can be enthusiastic about this film, as a farce or not (and it is kind of obvious when the Psycho Redneck gets put on speaker-phone, that there is something tongue-in-cheek here).
The thing is, neither The Nicolas Cage remake of The Wicker Man, or The Wicker Tree, are meant to be 100% “straight”; to an extent, I think that they are meant to be played as “farcical”: but I don’t think that helps.
The Craft can be read as a Farce on Wicca; Rosemary’s Baby has definite farcical tones to it; the original Wicker Man is (I think) a brilliantly sublime farce- even the Village Voice cover of Dan Holloran was a type of farce.
My question is, when does Farce stop, and Exploitation begin? Where are the media images of Pagans doing something other than sacrificing humans to “The Gods”? A step in the pro-Pagan direction is the recent Brave, whose farcical Witch actually makes a delightful media-portrayal of Witches.
I think my original point remains valid: here are various examples of media-portrayals of Pagans in terms of human sacrifice.
Maybe Mr. Whedon is sending this trope up in brilliantly over-the-top manner; if that’s the case, it seems to me that he is acknowledging the stereotype, and attempting to bust it open through absurdity.
It still leaves the question, what is it about Paganism in a modern context that causes the Zeitgeist to reflect fears and anxiety over Human Sacrifice? Does Neo-Paganism strike people as that primitive and atavistic? Is there some deep DNA-strand in the human psyche that instinctively fears the “Pagan Other” in terms of potential desire to sacrifice humans?
What is going on with this subject is something that modern Pagans should attempt to grapple with- anxiety over the idea that Witches and Pagans might prove harmful to others- because it is something that we need to deal with (it seems to me).