Trailer Tuesday: The Cabin in the Woods

2012 is certainly shaping up as a great year for beloved geek icon  Joss Whedon, particularly in terms of his big screen fortunes. Of course, the biggie is that Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly, wrote and helmed The Avengers - which is out this Thursday in South Africa, and which is destined to become one of the most successful superhero films of all time. Also this year we may see Whedon's super-low budget, indie version of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, with Nathan Fillion, Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof. 

Before that though there's horror comedy The Cabin in the Woods, with Whedon sharing script duties with frequent collaborator, and Cloverfield writer, Drew Goddard.

Filmed all the way back in 2009, it's been quite a wait for The Cabin in the Woods, which was first delayed for a 3D conversion (later scrapped, thank God!) and then shelved when MGM when bankrupt. As it turns out, apparently the 3 year wait was worth it.

At first glance, The Cabin in the Woods sounds bog standard: Ignoring warnings from creepy hick locals, a group of vacationing college students (including Chris Hemsworth, Kristen Connolly and Anna Hutchison) trek off to a lakeside cabin in the middle of nowhere. There's swimming, drinking and sex. And then something awful happens.

However, as the film's trailer and cheeky tagline - "You think you know the story" - reveals, The Cabin in the Woods is far from conventional. In fact, what has most pleased critics is that the film is an enjoyably clever "Meta" play on genre expectations. Without revealing too much, someone is screwing with these kids, involving them - and the audience - in a funny, but still thrilling, deconstruction of horror films. Evidently The Cabin in the Woods is unapologetically strange stuff, but "groundbreaking" nonetheless.

The Cabin in the Woods released in the United States on 13 April, clocking up an aggregated Rotten Tomatoes rating of 91% Fresh (which personally makes me very wary of over-hype). The film's South African release date has yet to be set, but given the film's admittedly niche appeal, I think we can expect to wait a good few months for it. Personally, I'm putting money on a release date sometime between July and November.