Day 17: Horror Film That Was Surprisingly Good - Cabin in the Woods

I don't know how other people heard about Cabin in the Woods, but I first heard of it on Netflix a while back and my first thought, knowing nothing about it, was, "Oh great, another slasher film, this will be terrible." But I had nothing better to do, so I watched it anyway. I was stunned. Stunned. I don't want to give away spoilers, I think the best way to watch it is to go in knowing absolutely nothing like I did. Of course, this could backfire if you think you're getting one thing and you get something completely different, but it's a risk worth taking. Cabin in the Woods is a loveletter to horror films. That's the best way to describe it. You can tell how much love went into this movie. It's really clever and so crazy in the third act, it's incredible.

Honorable mention 1: Oculus - Another film I watched on Netflix. It's either about a haunted mirror that can manipulate everything within a certain radius of it, or it's about a family who all suffer from mental illness, and that's why I like it. Watching this film, I don't think it's ever really clear about what's going on. If it were just a straight up haunted mirror movie, I would think it was terrible, but there's more to it and that's why I enjoyed it so much. It was also inspired by a short film that you can watch here if you're interested.

Honorable mention 2: In Fear - Yet another film I watched on Netflix...Maybe that should have been its own category. I watched it because I'm a fan of Iain De Caestecker. Again, I wasn't expecting much. To be honest, I never do with horror films, for every good one, there are about 100 disappointing ones. In Fear is about a new couple who are going to a music festival together. On their way, they end up lost in a heavily wooded area, which is basically my worst nightmare as far as horror movie scenarios go. And of course, you know there's someone hiding out there who wants to kill them, because that's what always happens when you're lost in the woods at night. What I liked about this movie is that it did a really good job building up the tension. Some people might think it's a little slow, so keep that in mind. I do think it's worth checking out though. Also, apparently there wasn't much of a script and the two main actors didn't know a lot of what was going to happen, so in certain scenes where you see them react like they're terrified...They actually were. Watching it with that in mind adds a little something extra to the film.