Cabin in the Woods remains one of the best meta-horror movies in history, and it might be a secret sequel to a horror classic from the ’90s. The movie follows five young adults who go to a cabin in the woods, only to be attacked by the Buckner family, who rise from the grave.
It all sounds familiar, but the story behind The Cabin in the Woods is that a secret facility sets up the entire situation to sacrifice five young adults to an ancient deity, thereby keeping the apocalypse at bay. This is hinted at in the opening scene, where three people in a secret laboratory discuss their job.
Two scientists (Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford) are talking about basic life stuff when a third (Amy Acker) comes up and says there was a situation with the Swedish branch. They then admit the Japanese branch is always number one, while the U.S. is always second.
After this, they introduce an interesting line of dialogue in which they admit that the last mishap with the American branch occurred in 1998, involving the chemistry department. When the big twist is revealed, it suggests that this movie may be connected to a popular 1998 horror film.
Cabin In The Woods Is A Secret Sequel To The Faculty
The Cabin in the Woods quote was initially meant to poke fun at Amy Acker’s scientist, who works in the chemistry department at the laboratory. However, when the twist showed that these scientists were actively sacrificing five young adults every year to save the world, it took on a new meaning.
This leads back to horror movies from 1998, and one stands out perfectly. At the end of The Cabin in the Woods, the Director (Sigourney Weaver) says that the only rule is they have to sacrifice a whore, an athlete, a scholar, a fool, and a virgin. The whore has to die first and the virgin last to avert the apocalypse.
In 1998, Robert Rodriguez directed the horror movie The Faculty, which was set up as an alien invasion slasher movie. The format was basic, set in a high school, where teenagers all exhibited the distinctive traits the Director had explained, under attack by aliens who took the form of their teachers.
The big thing about The Faculty was that the teens used the chem lab, and their experience in chemistry (one of them was a drug dealer who had chem experience) to beat the aliens, and several of them survived. This plays into the mistake with the chem department, and why the 1998 mission failed.
How Being Connected To The Faculty Changes Watching Cabin In The Woods
This makes watching Cabin in the Woods an even better experience. The betting board in the facility has so many great Easter eggs on it. The board even has Deadiites from The Evil Dead movies. There are wraiths, clowns, witches, an angry, molesting tree (also from Evil Dead), and more.
Hearing about the Japanese department’s success brings up several thoughts about things like demonic ghost girls and giant fire-breathing kaiju.
Connecting it to The Faculty, thanks to the year and the chemistry hint, is fun, but it is also great to see all the other classic horror movie creatures. The man from Hellraiser is obvious, but there are many more that make Cabin in the Woods one of the most rewatchable and enjoyable horror movies of the 21st century.