Cabin In The Woods

H.P. Lovecraft doesn’t translate to film very well. Many have tried, few have succeed. Lovecraft’s stories are mood-driven, using his dense antiquarian writing style to tell tales that say so much while unfolding so little in terms of action. This doesn’t exactly lend itself to a cinematic adaptation. Yet several films have found a way to tackle Lovecraft without actually adapting Lovecraft. The following films pay tribute to Lovecraft without actually adapting any of his stories.

Backcountry is the Candy Crush of the horror movie genre: it’s a well executed, well directed contemporary horror film, that’s enjoyable and re-watchable despite its flaws.

One of the few horror films kicking around the film festival circuit in 2012 that the entire Sound On Sight staff seemed to agree on, was Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s Resolution. My colleagues and I have been tracking it ever since it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and so when the filmmakers recently …

“Hey You Geeks!!” is all about the bread and butter of Geek Cinema; comic book films, science fiction, action, horror and fantasy. Because these genres overwhelmingly embody the money-earning side of film, they tend to exist on an uneven plain where weeding out the good from the bad is an often tedious task. Along this …

  25: The Dark Knight Rises Directed by Christopher Nolan Screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan 2012, USA The Dark Knight Rises feels as if it was made up of two equal halves, with the most critical moment of the film breaking the movie in half, almost literally. While the second half may have …

2012 wasn’t a bad year for movies. It was actually a great year. The problem is, the movies we were most anticipating, specifically the Hollywood blockbusters like Prometheus and The Hobbit, didn’t live up to our expectations. With that said I still managed to make a list of 50 films I loved. Maybe I just …

30: Moonrise Kingdom – Beach Scene Director Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom has had mixed reviews here at Sound On Sight. But just about every one of us agrees that the goofy dance sequence to Francoise Hardy’s “Le Temps De L’amour” – which leads to an uncomfortable first kiss/first arousal, is by far the highlight of …

It’s no big secret I love horror films, but 2012 hasn’t been a great year. In my top ten, three films carry over from 2011, two won’t be released until 2013, two are animated and another isn’t much of a horror film. With that said, 2012 gave us Berberian Sound Studio and Cabin In The …

I remember when I was younger, I used to head to the video store and rent movies I’d never heard of based solely on the movie poster art. In doing so, I discovered many hidden gems, such as Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive and Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead. Movie poster artists are without a doubt some …

Resolution Directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead Written by Justin Benson USA, 2012 In Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s Resolution, Michael (Peter Cilella), after receiving a mysterious video, sets out to the backwaters to help save and sober up his estranged crack-addicted friend Chris (Vinny Curran). Finding him in a rundown cabin, Michael handcuffs …

Grave Encounters 2 Directed by John Poliquin Written by The Vicious Brothers Canada/USA, 2012 Remember when The Blair Witch Project caused a bit of a kerfuffle back in 1999? Thanks to a potent concoction of viral and apocryphal marketing, the film caused a bit of a furor amongst the movie-going public, with heated debates over …

V/H/S Directed by Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, and Radio Silence Written by Simon Barrett, David Bruckner, Nicholas Tecosky, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, Justin Martinez, and Chad Villella USA, 2011 Imagine you went trick-or-treating. Knowing the area, you take a big empty bag. You go to …

At the end of each month, the Sound On Sight staff will band together to write an article about their favourite scenes in films released. Here are our favourite scenes from the month of April. Warning: Of course, spoilers are in full effect here! Rebelle – Friendly ghost warning There are a host of wonderful …

Every thirty days, I like to post a list of my favorite films I’ve recently watched. Here are the best films I’ve seen throughout the month of September. This list is based on movies theatrically released here in Canada, and I do not include what I have seen at film festivals. **** 1: Cabin In …

The Cabin in the Woods Written by Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon Directed by Drew Goddard 2011, USA, imdb Do you like scary movies? – Scream Yes. God help me, yes I do. The first time that I saw horror films deconstructed, it wasn’t by Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson in Scream, it was by …

In the ensemble tour de force that is John Luessenhop’s Takers, Idris Elba masterfully says, without a hint of irony, “We’re takers, gents. That’s what we do for a living. We take.” Apparently, along with being a competent actor by day, Elba also moonlights as Captain Obvious by night, but in addition to being heavy …

If you happen to live in Toronto, Ottawa, Halifax, or Winnipeg, we have a pretty sweet double header of genre-flick double-pass giveaways. First up, from producer Luc Besson, is the sci-fi actioner (and Guy Pearce vehicle) Lockout, which also stars Maggie Grace and Peter Stormare. If the plot outlined in the trailer below seems awfully …

“If you’re familiar with the writing style and general playfulness of Joss Whedon, you already know whether you will like this film. Not to discredit the game, fantastic cast, but fans of Whedon and co-writer/director Drew Goddard know who the real stars here are, and this movie is fantastic, precisely because of its script”,  and …

Black Pond Directed by Tom Kingsley & Will Sharpe Black Pond heralds an incredibly original, startlingly mature, and completely inscrutable new film-making duo. It’s unclear what exactly they have made with Black Pond; suffice it to say it is equal parts profound and hilarious while refusing classification… (read the full review) Cabin In The Woods …

Cabin In The Woods Directed by Drew Goddard Screenplay by Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard 2012, USA If you’re familiar with the writing style and general playfulness of Joss Whedon, you already know whether you will like this film. Not to discredit the game, fantastic cast, but fans of Whedon and co-writer/director Drew Goddard know …