The ULTIMATE guide to THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
This is the ULTIMATE no holds barred guide to every single monster featured in the horror classic, THE CABIN IN THE WOODS.
Using frame by frame viewing and released features from the film, this is the definitive list of every reference made in the film from start to it's epic climax.
1. The Board
(1) Werewolf (THE WOLFMAN) – One of the leading beasts in the end, the werewolf has been a reference throughout film starting with THE WOLFMAN and has been on film ever since.
(2) Alien Beast (ALIEN) - Seen on the board and later this facehugger jumps out of an elevator to attack a guard
And unbeknownst on screen was an actual Alien as seen below featured in the accompanying Visual Companion.
(3) Mutants – These could be zombies, hillbillies, swamp things and the sort, possibly seen in the chaos but we found it hard to differentiate between the dead, undead and deformed in the crimson closure.
(4) Wraiths (FIREFLY) One of Joss Whedon’s babies, the Wraiths played a main part in the Firefly TV series as the flying beasts.
(5) Zombies – Well, what can we say, one of the most recognisable monsters created and used. Romero’s LIVING DEAD saga to 28S DAYS LATER, zombies have grown bigger and bigger over the years and now have their own genre within horror. Seen as different characteristics and in several boxes within the chambers down below showing an everflowing release of the undead.
(6) Reptilius – Reptilian creatures, not seen in the film
(7) Clowns (IT) We see a clown on a few camera’s throughout the 2nd part of the film but it’s not until we see him stab a man and resist several shots while laughing that we see more of a resemblance to Tim Curry’s nightmare creating clown.
(8) Witches - We get a quick glimpse of a witch throwing a man over a balcony, sharing more of a resemblance to the gypsy of DRAG ME TO HELL it’s evident that no witch is a good one. We also see a witch like creature take the soul of one of the guards in the first wave of blood. Seen in (32)
(9) Sexy Witches (NIGHT OF THE DEMONS) – We don’t see any sexy witches throughout the bloodbath but we have no doubt that these relate to the demon’s in NIGHT OF THE DEMON, surely it’s no reference to CHARMED.
(10) Demons – Name a film over the last 40 years that has not had a demon. We see a few glimpses in the cages of the lower chambers but nothing is seen in the battle the ascends at the end.
(11) Hell Lord (HELLRAISER) – One of the more referenced characters throughout the film. When the motley crew head down to the basement, Curt picks up a sphere that shares mare than a resemblance to the cube. When Marty and Dana get mixed up in the elevator, we see a man holding the sphere in exactly the same way as Doug Bradey did in Clive Barkers classic and sharing no emotion towards the captives.
Later there is a shot on the CCTV showing ‘Sawhead’ and a ‘friend’ torturing a man wrapped in chains, another reference to the 1987 film.
(12) Angry Molesting Tree (THE EVIL DEAD) – NB. see ‘Evil UnDead’
(13) Giant Snake – Prominent throughout the big fight the giant snake is not a force to be reconned with. Anyone remember ANACONDA? This snake is worse.
(14) Deadites (THE EVIL DEAD) – NB. see ‘Evil UnDead’
(15) Kevin – This could be one of many. So many serial killers of the past with simple names, Freddy, Jason, Michael just to name a few of the big and famous but in the Visual Companion to the film, Drew Goddard said that Kevin is "a sweet-looking guy who seemed like he might work at Best Buy until he dismembers people." Showing a lot of similarities to Kevin (Elijah Wood) from SIN CITY…
(16) Mummy – This creature is seen on the ceiling when the CCTV rolls with a creepy upside down head.
(17) The Bride – Surely a reference to THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN or possibly one of DRACULA's many brides or could it even be Uma Therman’s revengeful sword wielding anti-hero from KILL BILL?
(18) The Scarecrow Folk – Seen ripping the shreds from one of the guards near the end of the film, these straw filled monsters are the creatures of nightmares.
(19) Snowman (JACK FROST) – We only know one killer snowman and we don’t refer to the Michael Keaton sop, we’re talking the wisecracking snowman who kills for a living and goes to the tropics for the sequel (?)
(20) Dragonbat – Along with the snake, this is one of the creatures which gets a fair bit of airtime showing creature features still rule.
(21) Vampires – Who doesn’t know what a Vampire is? Not actually seen in the film but we’ve all seen what they look like.
(22) Dismemberment Goblins and (23) Sugarplumb Fairies – Two of the most curious creatures on the board and probably the most interesting, we couldn't see either in the big showdown however their scenes were shot and here's the concept art.
(24) Merman – Steve is gutted when the Merman isn’t chosen by the teens but finds his ironic demise at the hands of the rather gross looking Merman draining him of his crimson fluid.
(25) The Reanimated (RE-ANIMATOR) – when escaping, Marty shoots a zombie like creature in a hospital gown and green goo pours from his head, and we only know one film where the green goo is so luminous, Dr West must be hiding around somewhere.
(26) Unicorn (WTF?) – One of the most bizarre moments is when a beautiful Unicorn goes running down the corridor, only to repeatedly pierce a doctor with its horn.
(27) Huron – Nothing is known about the ‘Huron’ but on Wikipedia this refers to native tribesmen, could this be a group of native hunters or something more sinister akin to CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST?
(28) Sasquatch/Wendigo/Yeti (Wendigo) The furry monster stays anonymous as he does in real life. Only creeping up in the Visual Companion.
(29) Dolls (THE STRANGERS) – We see these masks in the basement and later on we see a group of young people wearing these featureless masks leaving an elevator only to torture a couple as seen on the CCTV screens, anyone remember what happened in THE STRANGERS.
(30) The Doctors (HOUSE OF 1,000 CORPSES) – There are two sets of doctors seen in the closing section of the film. The first are a group of medical people who are seen in doctors cloaks eating the remains of dead guards but later we see on the CCTV screens some more distorted doctors operating on a man. The last time we remember that happening, Dr Satan had his hands on some flesh in Rob Zombie’s cult classic.
(31) The Redneck Torture Family – The villains of choice for the film getting more screen time than the rest of the crew put together, The Bruckner family, while rising from the dead, share more in common with the redneck hillbillies from films such as THE HILLS HAVE EYES and WRONG TURN. NB. see 'Family Portrait'
(32) Jack O’ Lantern – One of the characters we wish we'd seen more as the potential of a pumkin headed beast would have set the place on fire. But it's a blink and you'll miss it moment as we see the fire breather on one of the cameras.
(33) Giant – Another monster not seen in the climax. We do see a huge zombie creature in the chambers but this shares more resemblance to the Boomer from the HOUSE OF THE DEAD games. You can make it out in "The Chambers and the Others" image by the scorpion.
(34) Twins – Seen a few times, the twins don’t seem to do much but they look very similar to the twins in THE SHINING and TALE OF TWO SISTERS. You can't miss them at the centre of "The Chamber and the Others" image.
