The Cabin in the Woods

Joss Whedon films are like buses. You wait an age for one and then two arrive at once.
A week after seeing The Avengers (I refuse to call it that other title anymore), i decided to see again as a double bill with The Cabin in the Woods.
Hampered by a lower budget but (evident in some of the later FX shots), this is a welcome antidote to all those well-worn stalk and slash dramas from Friday 13th to the asinine Cabin Fever.
So after meeting a bunch of eclectic guys in a lab, we are introduced to five protagonists. The jock, the dopehead, the boffin, the demure type and her licentious friend.
As they head off for the eponymous retreat it soon becomes clear that we're in familiar territory. Well, almost.
As an eagle flies into what looks like an energy field, it's obvious this is no ordinary thriller.
What unfolds is a skewed version of those thrillers we know so well, and the cast, including Chris Hemsworth and Richard Jenkins do a fine job with the material.
I'm not going to give away the Marmite ending, but i will say if you want a by the numbers thriller, best watch one of those slasher flicks from the past 30 years. This is a different beast and a welcome addition to the genre.