History YMMV / TheCabinintheWoods

* WhatAnIdiot: [[spoiler:All of the evil monsters can be released with the press of a single BigRedButton. The Controllers are just ''asking'' for it! Dana does press multiple buttons before the red one, but they seemed to get released awfully easily]].

** Did the Japanese branch of the organization [[spoiler: purposely throw the ritual because they don't want a group of school children killed?]]

* FanPreferredCouple: Dana and Marty are the subject of the lion's share of shipping fics written about the film. It is also far more popular than the canon Dana/Holden. This seems to be because Dana/Holden being forced by The Organization InUniverse to emulate a horror movie, along with Dana Marty being the only two survivors.

%%* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Marty.
* WhatAnIdiot: [[spoiler:All of the evil monsters can be released with the press of a single BigRedButton. The Controllers are just ''asking'' for it! Dana does press multiple buttons before the red one, but they seemed to get released awfully easily]].

--->[[spoiler: '''Iceburg 7''': Though I'd like to hope we wouldn't fail so badly. I mean, people haven't failed that badly at killing five teenagers since [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Rita Repulsa.]]]]\\
[[spoiler: '''[=emissary666=]''': The idea that an entire site devoted to the prevention of an XK-scenario was so incredibly unprepared for a containment breach was just so shocking to me; especially how easy it was to initiate a breach event when they only kept [[CosmicHorror Keter-level monsters]].]]

* SpiritualLicensee: Believe it or not, this makes for a pretty good adaptation of [[spoiler:the Wiki/SCPFoundation. The main bad guys are a nebulous organization of questionable morality which possesses an enormous catalogue of monsters and other dangerous supernatural items (in this case, horror movie baddies), which it keeps and controls so as to prevent [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt an XK-Class end-of-the-world event]]. And when the heroes find out about the lengths they're willing to go to, they take one look and say "fuck it, better to let the world end."]] The similarities get even creepier. [[spoiler:[[http://www.scp-wiki.net/sandrewswann-s-proposal S. Andrew Swann's proposal]] for SCP-001 is that it's the people who are writing the website. In ''this'' world. And a very good case could be made that, in ''Cabin in the Woods'', the Ancient Ones represent [[YouBastard horror fans]].]]
** [[spoiler: This was discussed on the site and declared it to be ''[[http://www.scp-wiki.net/forum/t-461238/the-cabin-in-the-woods Containment Breach: The Movie]]'' -- unrelated to ''Containment Breach'', the actual(ly freaky) SCP video game]].

* AcceptableTargets: [[spoiler:Three of the monsters featured in the cubes are two Klansmen and a KKK Grand Wizard, who may or may not be demonic.]]

* FanPreferredCouple: Dana and Marty are the subject of the lion's share of shipping fics written about the film.

** Come 2017, and the Buckners aren't the only [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard zombie redneck torture family]] anymore...[[ARareSentence and that is something I'll likely never write again.]]

** What were the previous successful sacrifices like, and what monsters did they "choose?"

** What are the ritual requirements in other countries? And how does everyone but America and Japan keep screwing them up?

* FranchiseZombie: Averted. Unlike ‘’Scream’’, which also tried to deconstruct cliches of the horror genre, only to further codify them and kickstart a new wave of sequels and ripoffs, this film [[spoiler: ends with an apocalypse, thus destroying anything and anyone that could possibly result in a sequel.]] The over the top originality of the premise has also made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to imitate.

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler: Marty and Dana effectively cross this by letting all of humanity die.]]

* MagnificentBitch: [[IronLady The Director]] is the head-strong leader of the Organization, charged with keeping the [[SealedEvilInACan evil gods that slumber below the Earth]] dormant so they will spare humanity. Under the Director's guidance, the Organization selects {{Human Sacrifice}}s every year and manipulates them into taking part in an elaborate ritual narrative. The Director is the first to notice that Marty's survival is threatening the ritual's completion, and succeeds into talking Dana into killing Marty before resolving to kill Marty herself when that fails. Far more professional and strategic than her subordinates, the Director has sacrificed numerous lives for the greater good while [[NecessarilyEvil harboring no ill will towards her victims whatsoever]].

* FranchiseZombie: Averted. Unlike ‘’Scream’’, which also tried to deconstruct cliches of the horror genre, only to further codify them and kickstart a new wave of sequels and ripoffs, this film [[spoilers: ends with an apocalypse, thus destroying anything and anyone that could possibly result in a sequel.]] The over the top originality of the premise has also made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to imitate.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Some of [[spoiler:the other monsters]] would have made even more spectacular movies. Who wouldn't want to see [[spoiler:an evil unicorn terrorizing a bunch of kids?]] Given what the movie's actually about, though, this is quite fitting; [[spoiler:the Controllers are shown to be tired of the "traditional" scenarios and desire something that goes outside the box, but the Ancient Ones want StrictlyFormula, and the Controllers know their audience all too well. They're wasting perfectly good plots, and ''they know it''.]]

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Marty.

** Anna Hutchison previously starred in ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury'', and this was one of her first roles afterwards. Her situation is quite similar to actress Cerina Vincent, who was in ''Series/PowerRangersLostGalaxy'' and went on to star in the similar film ''Film/CabinFever''. Both actresses played "The Whore", both went topless, both were the first to die, and both had played the Yellow Ranger.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: The four characters establish pretty quickly that they are not the usual stereotypes they are supposed to be:
** Dana (The Virgin): The first time we see her she is dancing in front of her open windows with no pants on, without a care in the world, and Jules points out she is just out of an affair with her [[StudentTeacherRomance Professor]], hardly the usual demure prudish behaviour that characterises "Virgin".
** Jules (The Whore): She is Pre-med and in a stable, and clearly loving, relationship with Curt, also when she mentions Holden, she clarifies she isn't pushing Holden and Dana to get together, but see where it goes.
** Curt (The Athlete): While a member of his schools football team, his aim is apparently terrible judging by his throw, and he is on a full Academic scholarship rather than a sports one, he also picks out a book, judging from the others Dana was packing it seems to be a soviet psychology/history book, which is pretty heavy stuff.
** Holden (The Scholar): By no means BookDumb, but is mentioned by Curt to be the "best hands on the team", proven by catching a thrown ball that was accidentally thrown out a second story window, that he had no way of knowing was coming, he also doesn't seem desperate to get into Danas pants, which usual horror tropes indicate the geeky ones will try, evidenced by later on when he discovers a two way mirror and doesn't try to sneak a peek.
** Marty (The Fool): He is shown to, while being quite a stoner, be very clever (the huge bong that collapses into a thermos mug), and has no romantic feelings towards either of the girls, clearly closer as friends than lust objects, later on he is shown to be ''very'' strong, being able to dismember one of the buckners with a ''trowel'' and apparently shrugging off being stabbed by said trowel.

* DirectorDisplacement: Creator/JossWhedon did ''not'' direct this film.

* DirectorDisplacement: Joss Whedon did ''not'' direct this film.

* {{Fanon}}:
** The chem department's failure in 1998 is attributed to the film ''Film/TheFaculty'' in which [[spoiler: none of the protagonists die, the supposed virgin is revealed as the monster, and said monster's undoing is triggered by the drugs another character makes]]. Damn chem department indeed.
* FixFic: A fanon alternate ending surfaced after the movie's release where [[spoiler: Marty reveals he's a virgin just before Dana dies from her wounds - as a way of preventing the Ancient Ones from destroying the world]]. This ignores the many times it's stated that the Virgin ''has'' to be a female.

** Hadley's remarks about never getting to see a merman. Well, Richard Jenkins, who played Hadley's partner Sitterton, would later have a major supporting role in ''Film/TheShapeOfWater'', a film about a ''Film/CreatureFromTheBlackLagoon''-like merman.

** Likewise, {{Creator/Wes Craven}}'s later ''Film/{{Scream}}'' movies were meta-horror movies that like ''The Cabin In the Woods'' subverted and deconstructed horror character archetypes, such as the FinalGirl, while playing with common horror conventions and "rules".

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: [[spoiler: Jules]] is the first to die at the forty-minute mark. Due to [[spoiler: Anna Hutchinson's]] fun performance and the character's likability before the in-universe ExecutiveMeddling, some fans wish [[spoiler: she had been the protagonist instead of Dana]]. ''WebVideo/CinemaSins'''s video about this movie also pointed this out, [[spoiler:calling out that Jules is a girl in a committed and happy relationship while Dana is a girl that just ended an extra-marital affair with her teacher, and since neither was an actual virgin, Jules would be a better fit for the role of The Virgin than Dana. Though this is likely part of the point.]][[note]]The likely reason Jules was shoehorned into being 'The Whore' is because she has a boyfriend and therefore would be more prone to having sex on the trip. Dana being single and reluctant to hook up with a new boy makes her less likely to do anything 'whoreish'.[[/note]]

* {{Woobie}}: Patience. [[spoiler: Raised in an ultra-religious redneck torture family, she feels out of place because she reads books. Then her father goes insane and traps the family in the basement and then cuts off her arm. Instead of dying, though, she is condemned to rise as a mindless zombie. And her entire existence as an innocent tortured girl-turned-zombie was created by a facility that needed a plot-triggering villain.]]