Sarah's Library

Spoilers!

1/4 - First book of April! Yay! I remember seeing the trailer for this movie and thinking "A Joss Whedon horror movie? I HAVE to see this?" Of course I never got around to it while it was at the cinemas and it has since slipped my mind (I'm going to see if I can find it playing on Foxtel tomorrow morning). 55 pages in and I can definitely hear Whedon's voice in the dialogue; the Buffy, Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse episodes he wrote were always the funniest with the snappiest one-liners. For e.g. this conversation on p47:

"I'm switching a few courses." Dana said coolly.
"How come?" Holden asked, and then he twigged it. Oh, so slimy bastard shithead had been a lecturer?
"For no reason!" Curt blurted.
"For very good reasons that don't exist." Then he pointed. "Hey look, trees!"

As soon as I read that passage I was immediately reminded of some of Xander's hilarious attempts to diffuse tension with random exclamations.

I've seen (but never actually read) a lot of 'college kids go up to the cabin and bad things happen to all but one, or maybe two (sequels are easier if you've got a continuing character from the first movie, who you might kill early on), of the characters' type of movie. I hope this can deliver on the promise of 'something different' (although, if anyone can it'll be Whedon - he's got to be my favourite non-actor Hollywood person), it would be disappointing if this was another Cabin Fever with different character names. To be continued...

A short while later - On page 76 now and as I've been reading I've been wondering how the tech guys fit into all this. Sitterson just had a thought that forced my brain to make a mental leap: "Their whole world in my hands... Their every private moment under my scrutiny." I suddenly had the idea of what if this is The Truman Show with blood and gore? Sitterson and Hadley are sitting in a control room watching everything the kids do through pinhole cameras throughout the cabin, and the crazy guy at the gas station is in on it (he made too many hintish comments for it to all be a coincidence). That would be how he was able to pop up out of nowhere, he stepped out of an off set room like they used in The Truman Show. Only this 'show' probably isn't for public entertainment and ratings, as I assume there's going to be some hacking of limbs, slashing of throats, and shooting of heads. I just don't know why people are going to die.

Sitterson and Hadley seem like lab-coat-wearing guys, so maybe it's an experiment, some kind of drug or virus or insect that's going to be let loose in the environment around the cabin and it either kills everyone or turns them into killers themselves. And that's why they needed to pass through an electrified barrier, it stops the contaminant from getting out into the general population... one of my wild theories :) To be continued...

30 seconds and 1/2 a page later -

 I swear that when I made that guess, I had only read Sitterson's thought (documented above), I hadn't read any further down the page before making the update. When I did continue reading, after writing my previous update, and I saw part of my theory (and a pretty wild theory at that) had been confirmed so quickly I was pretty shocked, especially since I often have wild theories and they're not often right. Just to add a bit more to my theories, I have also been contemplating the likelihood of experimentation in a new type of chemical warfare. To be continued...

Later - Well that's a surprise...

Mother is halfway through the one-way mirror - head and one leg through - this is a perfect time to grab her by the chin and back of her head and snap her neck (and then rip it off just in case). Instead Holden and Dana just watch and hope she doesn't get through before they can escape down to the basement (although it'll only be a temporary escape as, if they aren't able to take this chance to kill a

, they'll never manage it in more difficult circumstances).

2/4 - Well, that ending was certainly different, hint:

The back story to why the cabin in the woods was being operated was different, much more sophisticated and organised than the usual story. I was also pleasantly surprised by the explanation of why such stereotypical characters were chosen - jock, whore, virgin, fool, and scholar - just like in the traditional horror movies. I thought Whedon was losing his touch a bit with such obvious character choices, but it gets (mostly) explained at the end. The Cabin in the Woods started out feeling like 'same old, same old' as any other movie (well, book) in the horror genre, but in the end it turned out quite different. I continue to love Joss Whedon and look forward to seeing this as a movie.

*Update* - I now have this planned to tape on Foxtel, but not till the 14th, so I have a bit of a wait before I can see it.