Trivia / The Cabin in the Woods

• Acting in the Dark: The actors were all auditioned with scenes that weren't actually from the movie and they didn't know what they were shooting until they signed on.
• Awesome, Dear Boy: Sigourney Weaver's main reason for her cameo? She wanted to be in a scene with a werewolf.
• Creator Cameo: Sort of. Joss Whedon said in an interview that the two men in the control room were based on himself and Drew Goddard, the writers of the screenplay. He pictured the two of them messing with the students the same way a screenwriter messes with the characters in a movie.
• Direct to Video: It was originally slated for this in Australia and New Zealand. Fans complained. It subsequently got a limited theatrical run in June of 2012.
• Enforced Method Acting:
  • The scenes in the RV on the way to the cabin were some of the last shot with all the cast together — allowing them to build up natural chemistry and camaraderie with each other.
  • The fake wolf head had its tongue covered in powdered sugar both to make it look dusty, and to make kissing it more tolerable for Anna Hutchinson.
• Executive Meddling: The studio initially ordered the majority of the office party scene cut down, and Drew Goddard sadly went along with it to begin with. Joss Whedon, however, then turned around and told the studio that they wouldn't cut anything.
• Fake American: Curt is played by Australian actor Chris Hemsworth, while Jules is New Zealand actress Anna Hutchinson.
• Irony as She Is Cast:
  • Anna Hutchison plays a character who has just dyed her hair blonde as a plot point. She herself is a natural blonde, and usually has had to dye it other colours for roles.
  • Fran Kranz had never smoked weed before, and had to get extensive prop and behavior training on how to properly portray a character defined by his stoner persona. This included a two-hour joint-rolling session and a similarly long bong-lighting session.
• Meaningful Release Date: The film was released on Friday the 13th.
• Real-Life Relative: None other than Heather Langenkamp was part of the makeup crew, and her husband David Leroy Anderson was the movie's SFX makeup artist (also playing the Floating Head monster). She however is credited under the pseudonym "Heather L Anderson".
• Reality Subtext: Jesse Williams used to be a teacher, making him appropriate for the character who is pigeonholed into the role of The Smart Guy.
• Referenced by...: SCP Foundation: SCP-2786 is a metaphysical entity that can insert itself into horror narratives, where it attempts to portray itself as a brave hero and alter the story itself. One of these is listed as the film Cabin in the Woods.
• Serendipity Writes the Plot: Minor example. Note how when the kids go swimming, Marty is wearing a baggy t-shirt and everyone else is in swimsuits. This is because Fran Kranz was actually in great shape underneath and they felt his physique wasn't believable for the character.
• The Shelf of Movie Languishment: The film was stuck on release since 2010 after MGM's bankruptcy and was almost released in 3D in 2011. Finally, Lionsgate acquired the distribution rights to the film and released it in 2012.
• Star-Making Role: Chris Hemsworth. According to Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, the dailies from the scene where Curt reveals that Jules has been killed were so well-received by the studios that it actually locked him in for lead in the remake of Red Dawn (2012) and got him a callback for Thor, which he would come to star in.
• Throw It In!: The blood spewing out of the merman's blowhole was an idea thought of very late in production, and thrown in. They filmed for nine minutes, but only the last ten seconds are used in the final cut.
• Trolling Creator: The opening was deliberately conceived to make audiences worry that they might have walked into the wrong movie.
• Typecasting:
  • Jodelle Ferland, who was often typecast as Creepy Children growing up, plays zombie girl Patience Buckner.
  • This is the third time Amy Acker has played a scientist in a Joss Whedon project, after Angel and Dollhouse.
  • In both this film and Paul, Sigourney Weaver plays the head of an evil organization hiding an otherworldly secret from humanity. She appears only by voice until the very end of the movie, when she presents herself and tries to kill the protagonists, only to be killed herself. What's more, both serve as a Casting Gag, inverting her most famous role of someone who gets screwed by a MegaCorp's questionable decisions.
• Unbuilt Casting Type: Before getting typecast as somewhat comedic men of action, Chris Hemsworth appeared here as a sociology major who's more brainy than brawny... and then gets brainwashed into becoming the Dumb Muscle of the group.
• What Could Have Been:
  • The various Left 4 Dead characters are present because there was supposed to be special L4D downloadable content based on the film. The deal fell through, but the characters didn't seem out of place, so it was easier to keep them in.
  • The studio wanted the office celebration scene cut down. Drew Goddard was upset by this and couldn't bring himself to do it, so Joss Whedon phoned the studio to inform them they would not.
  • The first designs of the Merman had him be an Expy of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. They only decided later to give him a fish tail. The original concept art can be seen in the visual companion.
  • On the board of bets, in the list of monsters, one line says merely "Kevin". As it turns out, Kevin was supposed to be an homage to We Need to Talk About Kevin, and to embody the concept of Humans Are the Real Monsters. A scene in the script that was not included in the movie (but made it in the novelization) had Kevin appear as a perfectly normal and random human during the Purge, but exsanguinating mercilessly a wounded man asking him for help. Outside of that, all we know is that the film strip Marty has in his hands when exploring the cellar would have invoked Kevin.
  • The novelization also mentions the Dragonbat breathing fire, which would've made its name make a lot more sense.
  • The Face Hugger alien was supposed to be one of the monsters Dana and Marty first meet when going down the elevator. The scene of them being startled by the creature was filmed, but never included in the movie. Behind-the-scenes pictures and videos can be found in the visual companion and in the DVD bonuses. The visual companion also presents original concept art for the alien that had him look more like a full-grown Xenomorph before settling on the face-hugger design.
  • The DVD bonuses reveal many more monsters that you can barely see in the movie, such as an axe-wielding lawn gnome, a floating disembodied genie head, one of the cow skull-headed creatures out of Time Bandits, a Blob Monster, a giant, and even members of the KKK...
  • The visual companion reveals concept art for other monsters that weren't used. They include a monster made of seaweed, a Threatening Shark, a humanoid horned demon, an undead pirate, and many more bizarre creatures. The novelization mentions creatures representing real-world fears — such as a vagina-toothed woman, an alligator-headed dog, a Minotaur, a giant rabbit, a three-headed baby, a group of lava people, and the freakiest of all — a woman with snakes for pubic hair.
  • Bruce Campbell was actually the first choice for The Director, which would tie in more to the movie's cabin setting and plot involving zombies being activated by reading a Tome of Eldritch Lore. He wasn't available, so Sigourney Weaver was the second choice. Jamie Lee Curtis was considered too.
• Word of God: "Kevin" listed on the board is described by Drew Goddard as a seemingly nice guy "who looks like he might work at Best Buy" -- who then dismembers people.

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