Friday the Thirteenth

I probably should have posted this at exactly midnight, but I wasn't cool enought to be up that late

I'm not one for superstitions, particularly the whole 'Friday the Thirteenth' gag. I was born on the 13th of September (though a Monday) and so far I haven't perished unnaturally (touching wood); but after a brief heroic glimpse of wikipedia, apparently the number 13 is unholy or transgressive as oppose to 12 which occurs in nature - 12 months, 12 hours - and religion - Jesus' 12 disciples, the 12 Olympian Gods, par example. By contrast 13 peeps at a table usually results in misery - The Last Supper being a palpable example.

Friday is traditionally a day of bad luck - not according to Rebecca Black, apparently - with absurdly named 'Good' Friday of course signifying Christ's crucifiction; stockbrokers also steer clear from the date as it is associated with market crashes.

So this is the date decided to launch horror flick: The Cabin In The Woods. Starring Chris Hemsworth of Thor (2011) fame, the film is intended to subvert genre stereotypes by literally picking Horror film apart. 'A group of young people go to a cabin for a boozy break, but get much more than they bargained for' = perfect formula for a generic Horror Film. However, Cabin instead celebrates these cliches by applying a voyeuristic  sci-fi slant to the film, as the characters are being watched and their fates are being manipulated cruelly to create the perfect horror.

So what are the Horror Movie Stereotypes?

The Slutty Victim. This girl is usually a bitch with a two dimensional personality. She'll be running around doing a girly scream with broken nails and revealing clothing, which has, by the way,  been conveniently ripped up by the pervy maniac/werewolf/vampire/monster/ghost to make it even more so. This girl is the one who dies horrifically as punishment for her crimes of being shallow and too good looking. Usually during sex.

And here we have Paris Hilton modelling perfectly the doomed bimbo in House of Wax (2005). "What? I'm not nominated for an Academy Award for this performance?"

The False Alarm. This technique is utilised in practically every single horror film, and with good reason - it's perfect for creating suspense and setting in the tension. You know the score: person walks into a dark room, there's a loud crashing sound behind them, the shot goes to the cause of the commotion and its just Bob the cat being clumsy or something.

Evil Children. Often the icon of ultimate innocence can be twisted to create a vision of ultimate evil and horror. There's something inherently disturbing about children being corrupted, perhaps because it's the height of the unnatural. Perhaps one of the earliest examples of this in film is in The Exorcist (1973), multiple others followed from The Ring, The Grudge, The Shining, Orphan, The Messengers and Insidious, to name a few.

I wonder which codes The Cabin In The Woods are going to apply? Produced and co-written by Joss Wheden, the genius behind Buffy The Vampire Slayer, I'm enthralled to see this quirky horror mash up.