Horror movies exist in order for people to deal with the inevitability
of death. The cold hand of Death will one day grip each of us, and it is
through the artistic expression of the horrific that we are able to process and
attempt to resolve our feelings about our demise. 2011’s horror film The Cabin in the Woods (dir. Drew
Godard) looks under the hood of cinematic horror fiction to show us why we need
horror stories and what is wrong with the current generation of horror movies.
The Cabin in the Woods begins
with a cliché setup: a group of friends (3 guys, 2 girls) plan to get away
together and enjoy some R&R in a cabin in the middle of a wooded area. We’ve
seen this story a million times, of course, in horror films dating as far back
as 1972’s The Last House on the Left
and 1974’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
This doesn’t even begin to consider the rise of teen exploitation horror flicks
starting with 1980’s Friday the 13th.
But, The Cabin in the Woods takes
this familiar tale and spins it in a different direction…downward.
The film’s biggest twist involves the introduction of two unique
characters, Sitterson (Richard Jenkins) and Hadley (Bradley Whitford). These are
ordinary working joes who just so happen to work in an underground control
room, orchestrating the events affecting the teenagers in the traditional tale.
Sitterson and Hadley manipulate the environment to maneuver the teens into
death situations. They are quite successful, and one-by-one the teens die at
the hands of a redneck clan of zombies. This is all due to an elaborate ritual
that must occur periodically to sate the “old gods,” whom, without the ritual,
would rise up to destroy the earth.
One of the major themes of The
Cabin in the Woods is the idea that we seek the voyeuristic thrill of watching
murder and death to keep our violent nature in check. The film’s most pivotal,
and memorable scene – the “Roll with the Changes” party scene – expresses this
idea with a disturbing force.
The scene begins with our “upstairs” heroine, Dana (Kristin Connelly),
dragging herself out of a lake after barely escaping a zombie attack in a
sinking RV. She collapses on a dock and tries to catch her breath while being
overwhelmed by the terror of her evening. Right as we think she may be safe,
the lead zombie, Judah Buckner, attacks her. Suddenly, we cut to a video screen
image of the attack and the song “Roll with the Changes” by REO Speedwagon
begins playing. A party is going on in the “downstairs” control room. Employees
are flitting about between groups, laughing, gossiping, celebrating a job well
done. They drink beer and toast to their success. Some talk about the event, some
about overtime bonuses, others try to hook up with the opposite sex, and all
the while the images of Dana being throttled by Judah Buckner play on the
massive video screens, ignored by the group. The scene ends with Sitterson
learning there was a technical problem with power supply from “upstairs.” Just
as he is intrigued and concerned, a red phone rings, making it clear the party
is over.
There are several elements to this scene exploring the idea we need to
see violence to stay peaceful. The most important element is the song selection
for the party. REO Speedwagon’s soft rock anthem, “Roll with the Changes” tells
the story of a man looking to take his relationship with a woman to the next
level. He implores her to join him and roll with the changes of their life. The
song isn’t in the film because of its romantic elements, though. It’s there
because of the chorus:
If you’re tired of the same old story
Turn some pages
I’ll be here when you are ready
To roll with the changes
These lyrics imply the story needs to be changed, and we need to roll
with it. The film’s tired tale of doomed teens in the woods needs to be shaken
up – we, as an audience, are over it. Having seen a slew of these horrors,
there’s not much else left. Our desire for a different sort of violence is
growing. If we don’t get something new soon, we will blow.
While the song selection dominates the party scene, other elements also
contribute to the scene’s meaning. After the party environment is established,
the video screen showing the attack on Dana is in nearly every shot, hovering
over the proceedings with an ominous blue-gray glow. It’s a reminder to us that
we have become desensitized to the violence we see. There is nothing amusing or
entertaining about violence being perpetrated on another human being, yet the
employees laugh and drink as if the images around them should be celebrated.
The constant exposure to violence has numbed us to its impact, which keeps us
from giving in to our darker impulses.
Since the movies provide us an outlet for our violent thoughts, our
darker impulses are replaced by other, more socially acceptable forms of
violence. This is seen in a choice moment of the party scene. We witness Hadley
being congratulated on a job well done. A couple employees kiss his ass, and he
not-so-humbly shines them on. As he hears them go on about the RV crash, he
becomes reflective, and finally says, “I just think it would have been cooler
with a merman.” His desire for a better violent payoff is more powerful than
any human empathy with the innocent kids he has coldly slaughtered. Watching
and creating these voyeuristic moments of violence, from his perspective, keep
the Old Gods at bay, which keeps truly destructive violence from entering the
world.
The Cabin in the Woods is a
horror film with more on its mind than bloodletting, despite the fact that it
is, indeed, a remarkably gory film in its last act. It wants to make a bolder
statement about why people watch horror films, and most importantly, what
happens to us when we don’t attempt to satisfy our violent nature. The answer
to that question is devastating. Without horror films, without horror fiction,
without quality horror fiction, man is
unsatisfied and struggles to resolve his fears of death. Yet, we need to change
the same old story to keep the monster at bay. We need to roll with the
changes.
Works Cited
The Cabin in the Woods. Dir. Drew Godard. Perf. Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford. Lionsgate, 2011. DVD.
Cronin, Kevin. "Roll with the Changes." Rec. Mar. 1978. You Can Tune a Piano, But You Can't Tuna Fish. REO Speedwagon. Kevin Cronin and Gary Richrath, 1978. MP3.
