Laced with absurd asides, enormously self aware humor and arguably stuffed with a few more ideas and images than it's quite sure what to do with, Joseph Kahn's Detention is Donnie Darko for the ADD set. A film that riffs equally on John Hughes and John Carpenter it intertwines the angsty, postmodern teen comedy with slasher and scifi elements and then ramps the speed of it all up to a dizzying pace. Call it what you will, but it's certainly never boring.
Shanley Caswell stars as Riley Jones, high school outsider. Riley is a girl without a place in the high school social ladder. Or, at least, a girl without a cool place. Not attractive enough to be one of the cool girls. Not sporty enough to fit in with that crowd. She's a bit awkward, a bit clumsy, a bit too smart for her own good, and she can't even win at Debate Club anymore thanks to the perversely convincing arguments of the visiting Canadian exchange student. She's also in love with Clapton Davis (Josh Hutcherson) who is, in turn, smitten with vapid cheerleader Ione. Thus Riley wants to die.
At least she thinks she wants to die. But that's before the arrival of an actual, honest to god, movie slasher killer on the scene who is all too willing to help her along to her bloody end. Then the prospect becomes significantly less appealing.
Produced purely independently on a tiny budget by writer-director Joseph Kahn (Torque), Detention is one of those 'Why stop with the kitchen sink?' sorts of movies, one that jams absolutely everything possible into its slender running time. And while some aspects certainly work better than others it's to Kahn's credit that he manages to maintain the hyper kinetic pace and bizarre logic in which elements lifted straight from Disney teen classics, The Breakfast Club, and the work of David Cronenberg nuzzle up to a teen romance and a time hopping plot to end the world and it all actually makes sense.
An awful lot of what works has to do with the young cast, with Caswell and Hutcherson proving to be an immensely likable and believable couple in the middle of all the madness. The young pair ground the film just enough to keep it from all spinning off out of control. And, beyond them, marks also go to Kahn for actually making Dane Cook funny again. Surely I'm not the only one who felt that particular task was verging on impossible.
In many ways Detention strikes me as a film that will play like Repo: The Genetic Opera. It will polarize, inspiring an intense loyalty amongst the audience it was created for while also triggering a great deal of venom from a good portion of those outside that audience. There isn't going to be a lot of in between on this one
2 minutes into Detention I sat baffled; no idea what I was looking at.
5 minutes in I still didn?t know what I was looking at but I was in love with it.
10 minutes in my brain started to hurt.
20 minutes in I decided the film was genius.
30 minutes in I fell into a trance.
60 minutes in I desperately wanted the film to end, to release me from its manic and unabating exuberance.
89 minutes in the film ended. And I was sad. It had done something to me, and I craved more.
It is now days later and my brain is still reeling from Detention. I?m not entirely sure exactly what this movie is ? is it a brilliant masterwork of controlled madness, or a hollow piece of meta confection that replaces substance with filmmaking artifice? I may never decided. But I am confident of two things: 1) This may be the weirdest movie I?ve ever seen that was made by a professional and successful director. And 2) If you view movies as an artform and not simply as an un-challenging avenue of entertainment, then you have to see it. This is definitely my ?must see even if you hate it? film of 2012.
the humor, and the slow, deliberate development of the film?s unique concept ? both succeed by virtue of a common characteristic of every part of the script: razor-sharp wit. Not a scene, character, joke, or plot development of The Cabin In The Woods fails to move things along in an exceptionally clever way, each feeling as inevitable as it does unexpected. This wit extends to the filmmakers? understanding and exploitation of horror tools and techniques. This movie is through and through a horror film, even when it is adding additional layers on top of the horror. At the nuts and bolts level, these guys know how to capture violence effectively and give you a good jump-scare when called for. They also understand horror structure and the need for delicate escalation- nothing drives a good horror flick like momentum. Finally, they understand the history and context of horror, the paramount importance of which will become more clear to you as the story progresses.
That is perhaps the vaguest collection of accolades possible for a film that bears so much interesting discussion, but there will come a time for that once everyone has had an opportunity to see The Cabin In The Woods. Until then, just trust me that this movie is already a classic right this instant, and that any fan of horror films on any level will love it. In fact, you shouldn?t read anything more about it, including this review! So basically this boils down to?
Shut up. Tell your friends to shut up. See The Cabin In The Woods. Shut up again.
Okay kiddies, you know all about Santa and Krampus and the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, but how many of you are familiar with the legend of The Butcher Fairy? We've got a 15-minute short film for you showing that particular entity in action!
To sum it up, the world's naughtiest five-year old has already acted up enough that his parents have spanked his ass off his body. Literally. They've got no other alternative than to turn to The Butcher Fairy. She's like Nanny McPhee?with a straight razor.
The film was written and directed by Brent Bokovoy and starring Rylan Gregg McPherson, Diana Vanhorn, Joel Boling and Kai Whiteley. The narrator is Donald O'Donovan. The entire film is written in rhyme, which can become a bit tedious, but there are some cool F/X and the creepiest damn Charlie McCarthy doll since the Night Terrors Dummy short. It's unique in that it has similarities to The Princess Bride and 8 Mile. How often can you say that? Not to mention an ending "The Twilight Zone" would be proud of. Check it out!
Since the filmmakers have made it known that they wish for people to go into The Cabin in the Woods as spoiler-free as possible, I’m going to be incredibly vague here on the front page. Needless to say, if you’ve seen the movie then you’re aware of a certain White Board. An image of The White Board has gone online, and we’ve got it after the jump for your viewing pleasure. If you haven’t seen the movie, I highly, highly suggest you do so. Director Drew Goddard and co-writer Joss Whedon have crafted a brilliant take on the horror genre that is some of the most fun you’ll have at the movies this year.
If you’ve seen The Cabin in the Woods, hit the jump to check out the image. Again, spoilers for the film are obviously after the jump.