Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods is jam-packed with horror movie easter eggs and references, considering the film’s metatextual approach in examining common horror tropes. Both a homage to and critique of the highs and lows of the genre as a whole, The Cabin in the Woods employs horror conventions only to subvert or mutate them, evolving into a critique of its own identity. However, for horror aficionados, it is also a love letter, replete with sudden twists and plot devices turned on their heads, accelerating towards an equally exhilarating finish.
The Cabin in the Woods makes multiple references to Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead franchise, along with tributes to lesser-known horror fares, and easy-to-miss homages, such as the title card being a reference to Michael Haneke’s Funny Games. The Cabin in the Woods posits an interesting balance between incorporating horror tropes that work, are hackneyed, and the element of audience culpability in expecting the same tropes, premise, and outcomes over the years. The result is a delightful mish-mash of overlapping themes and a razor-sharp reinvention of the slasher genre.
To parse and dissect every horror reference and easter egg in The Cabin in the Woods is indeed an ambitious undertaking, as the film definitely overflows with them, appearing in random shots and oblique background action. Beginning with the blatant subversion of horror movie character archetypes, the film proceeds to delve deep into a sea of monsters, known and unknown, each one of them out for chaos and vengeance. Here’s (almost) every horror reference in the satirical meta-horror masterpiece.
The references to The Evil Dead franchise are obvious and blatant, the key one being the cabin itself, which is a replica of the Deadite-infested cabin from the 1981 film. While it mimics the trope of a group of individuals staying in a decrepit, spooky structure in the middle of nowhere – a standard horror trope – it also features an obligatory taxidermied animal head and a cellar door with terrors of its own. It is also interesting to note that Marty (Fran Kranz), the archetype for The Fool in the group, mistakes the wolf bust for that of a moose, a reference to the moose head in The Evil Dead. There’s also a direct reference to Deadites and Angry Molesting Tree in the whiteboard of monsters, creatures that feature in the franchise, while the Latin incantation in the diary mirrors the Necronomicon passages.
The basic premise of the plot is a worldwide sacrificial offering to The Ancient Ones, carried in different capacities across the world, as per culture-specific monsters and lore. The ritual in Japan is a reference to the iconic character of Sadako Yamamura, the primary antagonist of the Ringu franchise. Mostly depicted as a vengeful spirit, Sadako uses nensha to create a cursed videotape that kills whoever watches it unless it is shown to another person, which could be vaguely mirrored in Marty’s fascination with the hypnotic film reel in the basement.
While the whiteboard listing the tentative monsters that could be unleashed upon the group functions as a betting pool within the framework of the film, it is, in fact, a Pandora’s Box of easter eggs and references to popular monster tropes and specific horror icons. This shot, in conjunction with the insane elevator scene in which a delightful variety of monsters and freaks can be seen in containment cubes, is a horror movie reference galore in itself. While werewolves, witches, demons, and vampires are homages to oft-used monsters in horror, names like Alien Beast and Mutants are direct homages to the face-hugger in Ridley Scott’s Alien and The Hills Have Eyes respectively. Here’s a comprehensive look at each monster reference:
• Werewolf: A classic monster in horror, appearing both in the film and the whiteboard. A possible homage to the classic 1935 werewolf movie, Werewolf of London.
• Alien Beast: A direct reference to the alien face-hugger in Ridley Scott’s Alien.
• Mutants: A reference to the Mutants or Hill People in The Hills Have Eyes series, who are posited as monstrous outcasts created via radiation poisoning.
• Wraiths: One of the monsters kept in the Facility and on the whiteboard, although not bet on. One Wraith can be seen during the iconic System Purge scene and is a possible reference to the original 1960 supernatural horror, 13 Ghosts.
• Zombies: Zombies are a staple in the horror genre, prominently featured in films like 28 Days Later and Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead. This reference in particular is a homage to George A. Romero’s Living Dead series, especially 1968’s Night of the Living Dead. There are also various references to zombie video game franchises such as Resident Evil and Left 4 Dead throughout the film.
• Reptilius: Most possibly derived from the 1961 Danish Giant Monster film, Reptilicus. Another possible inspiration could be from the ‘Zaeterran’-humanoid ninja Reptile, from the Mortal Kombat series.
• Clowns: A reference to Pennywise the Dancing Clown from Stephen King’s IT, the 1990 TV mini-series in particular.
• Witches/Sexy Witches: Another overused horror monster, stretching as far back to Grimm’s Fairy Tales of the 1800s, such as “Hansel and Gretel,” a fairy tale loosely based on the Slavic tale of Baba Yaga. Sexy Witches is a satirical subcategory, a spin on the stereotypical depiction of witches in Pumpkinhead or Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. One would also see a callback to Häxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages.
• Demons: A horror staple, such as in Night of the Demons.
• Hell Lord: Also dubbed Fornicus, The Lord of Bondage & Pain, Hell Lord parodies the Cenobites from the Hellraiser mythos. Neither angel nor demon, Hell Lord can be seen with a spherical puzzle box, which is a direct reference to the Lament Configuration, a gateway to other realms in the franchise.
• Deadites/Angry Molesting Tree: Direct Evil Dead references.
• Giant Snake: A mutant animal that could be a throwback to Anaconda, King Cobra, or specific entities such as Yawn or Iluzija from the Resident Evil series.
• Kevin: Described as a normal-looking man with psychopathic tendencies, Kevin could be a callback to Elijah Wood’s character in Sin City, or the character of the deeply disturbed Kevin from We Need to Talk About Kevin. Some argue that a glimpse of a murderous man in one of the computer screens positions Kevin’s appearance similar to that of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho.
• Mummy/The Bride: Homage to the classic 1932 film, The Mummy, and The Bride Wore Black.
• The Scarecrow Folk: Seen only at the end of the Purge, possible references include Night of the Scarecrow and Scarecrow Gone Wild. Could also be a throwback to the Creeper from the Jeepers Creepers franchise.
• Snowman: A reference to Jack Frost, along with the Goosebumps book, Beware, the Snowman, or the Snowman from the Time Splitters series.
• Dragonbat: Another horror creature, featured as Dr. Paul Carruther’s gigantic killer bats in The Devil Bat. The creature could also be inspired by the character of Marcus Corvinus from Underworld: Evolution and the vampires in Blade II.
• Vampires: Classic undead monsters. A glimpse of Dracula’s Castle being burnt to the ground can also be seen in one of the monitors covering the status of the ritual around the world.
• Dismemberment Goblins: Can be seen wreaking havoc in the background during the Purge. In terms of design and function, they seem conceptually similar to the creatures of the Gremlins franchise, along with that of Groulies, Hobgoblins, and Troll.
• Sugarplum Fairy: Also known as Ballerina Dentata, the Sugarplum Fairy is seen several times throughout the film, a homage to Guillermo Del Toro’s fantastical monsters in Pan’s Labyrinth. This nightmarish creature could also be based on the tooth fairy creatures in Hellboy II and Darkness Falls.
• Merman: Half-human, half-monster who can be summoned by the conch shell, a cursed artifact almost used by Curt Vaughan (Chris Hemsworth). Likely inspired by the creature from Black Lagoon or the cult classic, Frankenfish.
• The Reanimated: A direct tribute to H.P Lovecraft’s short story and film franchise, while its appearance is modeled on the Spider Shibito in the Japanese horror stealth game, Siren.
• Unicorn: A subversion monster, usually depicted as a symbol of purity. In The Cabin in the Woods, the unicorn can be seen impaling guards with its horn, and the surreality of the sequence mirrors Deckard’s unicorn dream sequence in Blade Runner.
• The Huron: A cannibalistic humanoid and a probable reference to Magua from Last of the Mohicans. Could also be a callback to characters featured in Cannibal Holocaust and Savage Sam.
• Sasquatch/Wendigo/Yeti: Interchangeable monster figures with similar or overlapping attributes, seen in films such as The Abominable Snowman and Night of the Demon.
• Dolls: Inspired by the trope of killers wearing masks in slasher films, such as Michael Myers from the Halloween franchise and Ghostface from Scream. Here, the Dolls seem to function as a group, resembling the antagonists of the 2008 horror flick, The Strangers.
• The Doctors: A play on the “evil doctor” trope in horror, who pushes the boundaries of ethics in order to achieve a twisted outcome via experimentation. Can be traced back to the tale of Frankenstein, and mirrors tropes used in The Human Centipede, The Dead Pit, and From Beyond.
• Zombie Redneck Torture Family: The Bucker Family is ultimately chosen to kill the group as part of the ritual, owing to their “100% clearance rate.” The way in which the Bucker’s function mimic aspects of the Hill People, Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre series, and Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th franchise.
• Jack O’Lantern: Classic Halloween monster, inspired by folklore and the characters of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps: Attack of the Jack-O’-Lanterns.
• Giant: Staple mythic creatures, as featured in The Chronicles of Narnia.
• Twins: A direct homage to the dead twins in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.
Apart from the creatures featured in the whiteboard and the Purge sequence, audiences are granted a blink-and-you-miss-it look at the many creatures in the Facility’s containment cubes, whose design mimics that of Cube. These creatures include The Blob, a direct reference to both the original film and the remake, a tentacled Cthulhu-like monster, a Face Peeler which is a possible reference to Nightbreed, and several characters that tie back to the Left 4 Dead video game franchise. Apart from this, several scenes in the film are a callback to iconic scenes in genre-defining horror flicks, such as Jules’ dance by the fire mimicking Willow’s dance in the original folk-horror The Wicker Man, and Marty hearing disembodied voices like in The Amityville Horror. There are also monsters that are a homage to films like Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, Eight Legged Freaks, Chopping Mall, and The KKK.
Inside the cabin, Marty tells Dana the following: “We are not who we are.”, a direct reference to The X-Files, Season 1 Episode 8, “Ice.” There is also an appearance by a Reaver from Joss Whedon’s space western drama, Firefly. It is also interesting to note that the actress who plays Patience Buckner, Jodelle Ferland, appeared as the vampire Bree Tanner in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and also played Sharon/Alessa from the Silent Hill franchise.
In essence, The Cabin in the Woods is a critical examination of overused horror movie tropes, some of which have become laughable staples or expected cliches. Primary of these being the categorization of character archetypes, employed cleverly in the film through the roles of The Whore, The Jock, The Scholar, The Fool, and The Virgin. The trope of the Final Girl is also subverted, as Dana is not the only surviving member in the end, nor does she fit into the “virgin” archetype. Other horror tropes include the Harbinger, who appears in the form of the creepy gas station guy who warns the characters of their impending doom, only to be ignored, as is routine in most horror scripts.
Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon also poke fun at convoluted horror logic that leads to major character deaths, such as when a group splits up for no apparent reason, characters drop their only weapon after using them once, or a character killed-offscreen only to inevitably return in the end. Finally, the Ancient Ones, the gods who are to be appeased via the ritual, are symbolic of us, the audiences, who unquestionably demand an endless cycle of repeated tropes that limit the genre as a whole. However, at the end of The Cabin in the Woods, the Ancient Ones rise up from the earth and destroy everything, creating a clean slate that could harken a new era for horror cinema.