Question

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The Cabin in the Woods – Director Drew Goddard

Dana – the “Virgin” – she represents innocence/goodness – in most horror films, the virgin

is known as the Last Girl – she is the one most likely to survive till the very end and

potentially leave the wilderness to re-enter civilization. In modern horror, the virgin

character is not literally a virgin – she may just be someone who does not have sex during

the course of the movie. Thus, Dana is virginesque. The “esque” suffix/ending means similar

to or like. Thus, Dana is similar to or like a virgin in the movie.

Jules – the “Whore” – she represents Lust/sexuality – in most horror films, the “Whore” is

killed first because she represents sin/passion that must be eliminated from members of the

establishment as sin/passion makes characters degenerate and become “other.” Her death

is usually first and quite violent to serve as a warning to others not to break the rules of

civilization and descend into passion. She kisses a wolf’s head, lap dances with Holden and

Marty, and has sex with Curt in the woods.

Curt – the “Athlete” – he represents Lust/sexuality/passion/the body. He must be

eliminated from society/civilization because passion causes him to become “other” as well.

Yet, his death is less violent than Jules’ death because horror has a misogynistic (hatred of

women) element and women are often punished more harshly than men for similar actions.

Even though Curt encourages Jules to break social rules of behaviour, he is still given a more

noble death.

Holden – the “Scholar” – he represents the mind/logic. Unfortunately, it is not easy for him t

believe in superstition or in the supernatural. He does not understand what is going on until

it is too late. He does try to have a romantic relationship with Dana which connects him to

Lust.

Marty – the “Fool” – this does not mean Marty is foolish although he often says or does

foolish things. The Fool is like a court jester – someone who sings/dances/drinks to

excess/does drugs but is very intelligent and despite seeming so “other” actually speaks

truth to power re: the establishment. Think of Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones.

Marty has an altered perception of reality because of his drug use (smokes pot). Therefore,

he sees the world in a different way than the other teenagers which is why he is the first to

realize that someone is manipulating them as if they were puppets on a string. Marty wants

society to crumble – he thinks it is corrupt and must be destroyed.

The Harbinger – the local yokel at the gas station who gives the teenagers warnings about

what will happen if they keep going into the wilderness. He foreshadows their death and

allows them to transgress (sin) so they can be punished as part of the ritual.

Hadley and Sitterson, the scientists – members of the establishment who are trying to

perform a ritual sacrifice to the pagan gods that are under the earth. As long as the ritual is

performed correctly and the gods receive their blood and flesh sacrifice, the gods will

remain underground. If the ritual fails, the pagan gods (the “other”) will rise up and destroy

the world. The scientists use drugs and other types of technology re: heat/light/a stable of

monsters to manipulate the teenagers into sinning so they can be punished. The

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establishment is seen as corrupt as the scientists etc. underground bet on how the

teenagers will be killed. They also do not really seem troubled by the idea of sacrificing

innocent humans to save themselves and the world.

The Director – the woman at the end of the movie who is in control of the entire sacrifice

and wants the gods to remain underground and the teenagers all to die.

Daniel Truman - the soldier who is with the scientists in the bunker. He represents the

power of the establishment. His distaste and discomfort for the human sacrifices of the

teenagers represents how humans should feel at what is happening. He wonders if people

should get used to what they are doing in sacrificing the teenagers to pagan gods.

Some themes to look for in film:

Deadly Sins such as Pride/Lust/Wrath/Gluttony which we will talk about later.

Horror and Travel – the journey from civilization to wilderness

The rise of the “other”

Horror and Technology

Warning signs at gas station – does not take credit cards – not connected to the

power of civilization. Holden ignores the Closed sign to trespass uninvited into the store –

his transgression. An open or unlocked door is not an invitation to enter – remember that in

the cellar of the cabin later.

Signs of death in gas station – dead animals etc. are warning signs that characters

are moving away from the safety of civilization into the danger of the wilderness.

The Harbinger warns them– road dead-ends at Buckner place/ always people trying

to sell the place/have enough gas to get you there but getting back is your concern

More warning signs – they are no longer connected to GPS – power of technology

equals a connection to civilization.

The cabin is a symbol of civilization in the wilderness. There are warning signs in the

cabin as well – the painting that depicts an animal sacrifice/ the two way mirror etc.

Further transgressions – the teenagers drinking beer and partying – Jules kissing the

wolf’s head and sucking on its tooth (pseudo-bestiality). Bestiality is sex between a human

and an animal. Pseudo means similar to or like. Jules demonstrates passion and sexually

arouses the other teenagers. That is why Jules is seen as such a threat to the power of the

establishment. Then Jules lap dances with Holden and Marty – crossing social boundaries.

Finally, Jules goes off into the woods to have sex with Curt. [She suffers a torturous death

for her sins. She is stabbed through the hand with a knife. Then, she is dragged by a bear

trap thrown into her back. Then she has her head cut off with a saw. Finally, the zombie

desecrates her body further by tossing her head like a ball at Dana who tosses the head

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onto the floor. Curt is punished a little here as well as he is attacked by the zombies as well

as watching his girlfriend murdered in front of him.]

The teenagers play truth or dare and Dana goes down into the cellar when the cellar

door pops open. Dana was not invited to cross that boundary (threshold space) so she

transgresses. The other teenagers follow her down eventually and they all start playing

uninvited with the objects left there. Unknown to them, each artifact/talisman will raise a

specific type of monster that will come to destroy them as part of the human sacrifice. Dana

reads the Latin from the diary of Anna Patience Buckner that raises the zombies. (Latin is

connected to the “other” because it is connected to Catholics not Protestant Christian

religion.) Marty warns her not to read it because he senses something is wrong and can hear

the subliminal messages the scientists are using to try and manipulate them. Later on,

Holden translates the Latin into English but they still do not understand what will happen to

them because that would require believing in the supernatural and superstition.

[These rituals are taking place around the world in different countries according to

each country’s supernatural rituals of pagan sacrifice. In Japan, there is a murderous ghost

going after 9 year old school girls. However, the girls manage to transform the ghost’s spirit

into a frog and none of the girls end up being sacrificed to the pagan gods. Thus, the US

ritual is the last one left and if it fails and the teenagers live, the pagan gods will rise up from

within the earth and destroy humanity and the world (apocalypse).]

Marty is the first to kill – to become blooded as he kills the zombie that drags him

into the grave and tries to kill him. Marty dismembers the zombie with a trowel.

Dana is the second to kill. She kills the zombie in the Black Room to save Holden and

protect herself. She hits the zombie with a crowbar and stabs the zombie 6 times with a

knife. The blood on her face shows that she has connected to passion/become the monster

in order to survive. Dana, Holden, and Curt escape in the Rambler not seeing the muddy

print on the door which is a warning there is a zombie inside the Rambler.

They are nearly through the tunnel when Sitterson blows up the tunnel and traps

them in the wilderness. Curt gets on a motor bike to jump the abyss – promises to come

back with cops, choppers, and guns – symbols of the power of the establishment to destroy

the monsters. He dies trying to save his friends when he hits the electric shield that traps

the teenagers in the wilderness. (Remember the bird at the beginning that hits the shield

and dies – was a foreshadowing/a harbinger of what will happen to Curt now). Curt is killed

in fire (symbol of civilization) in a valourous attempt to save others. Curt’s death is very

different than Jules’ death although he encouraged her in all her transgressions. He does

want the zombies to pay for Jules’ death too.

With Curt’s death, Dana finally realises that Mary was right. Someone is

manipulating them like puppets in order to kill them. She tries to tell Holden what she has

realized but he is too connected to logic and does not believe her. He tells her not to go nuts

on him although she is not being hysterical and is actually being quite calm and logical.

Holden is then stabbed in the throat by a zombie and the rambler crashes into the lake.

Dana escapes from the car and swims up to the surface – this is an image of cleansing and

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rebirth. In a traditional horror movie, the film would probably end here. However. This is

not a traditional horror movie.

The scientists start to party now that the ritual is done. They ignore the TV screen

and the picture of Dana being attacked by another zombie while they party. Truman the

soldier is the only one who looks at Dana who is being attacked.

“From Darkness, there is Light,” says Hadley as the party begins as they all think the

ritual is done. Then the Director calls them to say the ritual is not complete as one of the

other teenagers is still alive re: Marty. The Virgin cannot die until all the others are dead so

if she dies before Marty, the ritual has failed and the world will be destroyed.

Marty comes to save Dana from the zombie trying to kill her on the dock. Dana

knocks the zombie into the water. They run away and Marty and Dana jump into the grave

that the zombies came out of. The grave turns out to be the opening to the elevator that is

connected to the prison/stable of monsters deep underground. {The reason the tunnel cave

in nearly did not happen and the self-destruct no longer works is because of Marty messing

around with the wiring in the elevator). Going into the earth is a symbolic death. They go

deeper underground and realize they are trapped in a cell (3606) surrounded by other cells

full of monsters. Dana realizes they chose the way they were going to die by the things they

were playing with in the cellar. She starts screaming and banging her hands against the glass

walls until they are bloody re: connecting to passion.

A guard comes to release them from the elevator. He only wants Dana to come out

which causes Marty to become suspicious and kill him by slamming the guard’s head against

the elevator wall. Marty takes a gun and gives Dana a knife.

The Director speaks to them through the intercom and tries to get them to stand still

so they can be sacrificed. She tries to explain that it is an ancient sacrifice that must occur to

placate the gods (the Ancient Ones). However, Dana and Marty do not want to be sacrificed

and run away.

The soldiers shoot at Dana and Marty who are in a bulletproof control booth. Dana

hits a round, red Purge button to release all the monsters. She says, “Let’s get this party

started” which is the same thing Curt says when they first start drinking and playing Truth or

Dare. Hadley also says the same thing when the ritual officially begins. The monsters are

released from their cells and start killing the members of the establishment who are

underground – soldiers/scientists etc. It is an image of blood as

death/destruction/apocalypse maybe even cleansing if you interpret the actions of the

establishment in performing a human sacrifice to save the world as immoral.

Dana and Marty get more and more covered in blood as the monsters kill the people

around them. They used the monsters as weapons against the establishment. The monsters

break into the room where Hadley, Sitterson, Miss Lin, and Truman are. Truman is attacked

by zombies and uses a grenade to kill them and himself. Hadley is killed by a merman. Miss

Lin is killed by a monstrous snake and Sitterson escapes underground to try and activate the

self-destruct to destroy the base and save the world.

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As Dana and Marty run from the monsters, Dana accidentally stabs Sitterson as he

comes around a corner. He tells her to kill Marty. She does not listen to him but is confused

and troubled by what he says. She feels guilty for stabbing Sitterson. Marty gives her the

gun and tells her it is easier to kill with the gun while he takes the knife from her. They find

the underground room with the carved figures/symbolic versions of themselves and realize

they are part of a ritual sacrifice.

The Director comes out and explain the need for the sacrifice. The sacrifice is

required by the pagan gods to keep them underground and prevent them from rising up and

destroying the world re: civilization. The sacrifice is not just about killing but punishment. It

must occur before the sun comes back up in 8 minutes. The Director says to Marty that he

can die with them or he can die for them. Marty does not want to die either way.

Dana thinks about killing Marty to save the whole world as she points the gun at

him. Marty sees a werewolf come up behind Dana but does not warn her. He lets the

werewolf attack her to save his life. Then, once Dana drops the gun, Marty picks up the gun

and shoots the werewolf to save Dana who has been badly wounded. The Director then

attacks Marty and tries to kill him. Dana sees the zombie, Anna Patience Buckner coming up

behind Marty with an axe and she calls out to Marty to give him a chance to save his life

even though it means Dana will die. The Director gets stabbed in the head by the axe and

Marty kicks both Patience Buckner and the Director down into the hole- the place where the

gods are deep underground.

Marty and Dana sit on the stairs as the earth shakes with the rising of the ancient

gods. She apologizes for pulling a gun on him and says she probably would not have killed

him. He apologizes for letting her get attacked by a werewolf and then ending the world. He

lights a joint and they share it. He apologizes for letting her get attacked by a werewolf and

then ending the world. She says he was right about humanity and it is time to give someone

else a chance. They hold hands (symbol of community/connection to civilization) as the

walls comes crashing down on top of them.

A giant, monstrous hand bursts from below ground and smashes the cabin to pieces.

Since the cabin symbolizes civilization, this action foreshadows the world/civilization that

will be destroyed with the rising of the “other” re: the ancient gods.

So, at the end of this movie, no one survives and is able to re-enter civilization. Because of

Marty and Dana’s feelings about how civilization is corrupt and immoral, they would rather see it

destroyed than die to save it.