• Editorials

    Going Back to the Cabin: The Horror of Formula

    At first blush, Drew Goddard’s long-awaited meta-horror film Cabin in the Woods (my review) is designed to foster invested discussion of its genre among both its core and secondary audiences. It’s an unavoidable byproduct of meta-filmmaking of any kind; movies that peer behind the scenes, so to speak, lend themselves to more intensive conversation by virtue of their defining sense of self-awareness. Put differently, movie fans like talking about movies that are about movies, and Cabin, brandishing the tropes of horror cinema with an inwardly critical sense of pride, certainly fits that description. The film pulls off a tricky balancing act, existing as a genuine entry in horror canon while also serving as…