The Cabin in the Woods

I sat down with Cabin in the Woods director Drew Goddard and actress Amy Acker to discuss their film that rocked SXSW and has message boards going crazy. We had a chance to talk about writing with Joss Whedon, pacing in films, fearless filmmaking, and Drew gives his theory on how Michael Myers learned how to drive.

How were you able to write the story for Cabin in the Woods? Did you come up with the ending first and work backwards?

Drew Goddard: I wrote this with my partner in crime Joss Whedon...

I think I’ve heard of him before

DG: [laughs] Yeah. He’s a young up and comer. You should keep your eye on him. He had the basic ending. When we knew what that was we could work backwards. That was very much how we worked on Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel. You find that spark of an idea and try to entertain each other as you flush it out.

Was it a long writing process?

DG: We spent a few months getting the outline in to shape and really getting the structure right. One of the things I learned from Joss, the more work you do on your structure and your outline, the easier the writing is. We spent months doing that. When it came time to write it we said ‘Let’s lock ourselves in a hotel and we aren’t allowed to leave the hotel until we finish the script’. [laughs] It was crazy. It was nice because we had a room with an upstairs and a downstairs. I took the upstairs and we would just yell back and forth and crank pages out. I think we wrote around the clock for three days and at the end we were done. We rewrote it after that, but it stuck pretty close to what we wrote.

Amy, How did you get involved with the project?

Amy Acker: I guess I just knew the right people [laughs]. I was working on something and Joss called and said they were having trouble finding a part and would I mind playing it. I said ‘That sounds great.’

DG: The reason we were having trouble is because nobody was Amy.

It’s good to have a pool of talented people to pull from.

DG: It’s hard because we switch tones so much. We go from high comedy to high drama, often in the same scene or in the same line. It requires a degree of difficulty that’s sort of deceptive. It is so silly at times, but if you find people who can do it well, like Amy can, you want to grab them and hold them close.

Some of the scenes in Cabin are creepy, funny, and then creepy again. The whole premise itself is really bizarre.

DG: I feel like you just described the whole movie.

[everybody laughs]

DG: It’s funny and it’s a little bizarre.

Like the scene with the speakerphone. It captures the tone for the entire film.

DG: It’s a really crucial scene. It was the first scene that told the audience ‘Ok. I’m getting the tone of this movie.’ We sort of hint at it before that, but that’s when it really crystallizes and you really get it.

Did you have any sense of what kind of film you were making while you were on set?

AA: Being around Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford was great. They were so funny. You really got the comedy sense of that part.

DG: Because we’ve worked with Amy for so many years, you’ve seen some [expletive] in your day.

AA: It would’ve been weirder for me if it was just straight forward [laughs].

You did some work on one of my favorite shows Lost. Was that experience helpful in writing the story for Cabin.

DG: Yeah. I’ve been lucky between Buffy, Angel, Alias, and then Lost. The thing they all have in common is that they were all fearless. They were not afraid to be different and try something different. Even if you didn’t know that it was going to work, just try to do something new and fresh. That’s definitely how we felt on Lost doing every episode. Let’s just try something new. I like that. That energy is really intoxicating once you’re in it. I wanted to keep that with Cabin. If nothing else, let’s be bold. If we fail, that’s fine, but there’s integrity to that intent.

Do the bold stories appeal to you as an actor?

AA: Totally. I think that’s the most fun thing to do as an actor. It’s getting to play circumstances that aren’t happening in real life, the same with being on those shows and with this movie. And being able to change genres within each other. One week you feel like you’re on a sitcom, the next week you’re in a high drama. It’s really fun to play both ends of the spectrum and everything between.

Has Cabin been difficult to advertise for because of how different it is?

DG: Certainly. The filmmaker in me doesn’t want to give anything away. The audience member in me knows you have to prove to an audience that this is worth your time. It’s finding that balance. The truth is, the less you know about this movie the more fun you’re going to have. You also want to tell people that this is not your average everyday horror movie. I think Lionsgate has been doing a great job of giving just enough to let people know this isn’t the same old thing but keeping some of the surprises.

Trying to convince my Mom to see it would be tough because she hates scary movies.

DG: We’ve been touring now and one of the things that has been exciting is people coming up to me saying “I don’t even like Horror movies but I love this.” It’s nice to know that this is also for people that don’t care about Horror movies. I know if you like horror movies, we’ve got something for you. If you don’t like them, we still have something for you.

Me and my friend were having a discussion about the great shows on TV now and how they have a little bit for everyone in there. Like Friday Night Lights. If you love football, you’ll like it. If you’re into high drama, you’ll like it. Even if you love high school drama.

DG: It’s good storytelling.

The stories are good. Much like with Cabin, it doesn’t matter if you’re into that genre or not.

DG: Exactly. That’s always the goal. We definitely wanted to fall more in the Fun Horror Movie genre than the Traumatic Horror Movie genre. We wanted to say this is fun and we’re going to have a good time. We really set out to make a movie that’s a perfect date movie for a Friday night. It’s not too aggressive; it’s not going to give you too many nightmares, maybe a couple. We wanted people to have fun.

Do either of you have a favorite scary movie?

AA: I’m the biggest wimp. [Cabin in the Woods] is now my favorite scary movie. It’s the only one that I haven’t cried at. I am very scary. I’m afraid to flush the toilet after I see a scary movie.

[laughs] What’s the toilet going to do?

AA: [laughs] I don’t know

DG: It’ll tip them off to your location.

AA: But I loved [Cabin in the Woods] and I’m a big wimp.

It does have some awesome horror movie scenes in it.

DG: We wanted to tip our hats to those who’ve come before and try and ad something new. If I had to pick one scary movie I’d go with John Carpenter’s The Thing. That’s probably number one.

I’d hug you right now if it wouldn’t be so inappropriate. I bought a t-shirt the other day that says Outpost #31. I watch that movie every year.

DG: Really. I screened it for the crew before we started this movie. It’s such a beautiful film. Everything about the film was perfect.

Not to nerd out on The Thing too much but it’s so well paced……..

DG: So well paced and that was very important to me. Pacing is sort of fallen off recently. Everything is sort of shock, music video cuts, and shaky camera. I like the way Carpenter shoots The Thing. It’s much more elegant. It’s much quieter and it builds and builds until you get to these crazy places. Lord knows The Thing goes insane by the end, but it’s all stepped out. What I love about any good horror movie is that it functions on multiple levels. It’s just a great story, but also the societal implications. The whole movie is a metaphor for society, what we go through, paranoia, and mistrust of one another. That’s what’s going on in that movie. I remember when I first realized that as kid. A light bulb went on in terms of doing multiple things in one movie.

There’s some of that in Cabin

DG: Absolutely. Mr. Carpenter’s influence is very deep.

One of my favorite movies is Halloween………..

DG: Yep. That was the other one I showed them. There are a lot of nods to Halloween in this movie.

That’s what I thought. Even in Cabin when you know the scare is coming, it’s done so well that it doesn’t matter. Halloween was the same way. The scene when Jamie Lee Curtis goes to into the house and finds the bodies, you see Michael Myers slowly come out of the shadows.

DG: It’s the greatest. It’s so elegant. It really feels like this is going to be extra bad.

Since you’re a big fan of Halloween I have a question. How does Michael Myers know how to drive a car when he breaks out of the asylum?

DG: Great question. I always like concept that while he was at the asylum, one of the ways they tried to help him was making him feel like he was part of society. So his instructor brought his car into the parking lot and let Michael drive it around in circles. That’s my guess. And it didn’t go well. Michael was always trying to smash into things so they had to stop.

Did you have any favorite moments while making this film?

AA: I think the scene with the speakerphone was it. If I’m sad, I just think of that because it was so funny.

DG: Being a director, every scene I loved. It’s like trying to pick between them. There’s not a scene in the movie that I don’t love.

Is ending a horror film the toughest part to do?

DG: Certainly 3rd Acts of any movie are hard. It’s always hard to have something that will give you the promises from the beginning of the movie. That’s true for all movies. That is what gave me comfort in making this film. I knew we had a tremendous 3rd Act. No matter what happened in the first 60 minutes, the last 30 minutes was going to blow people’s minds.

How did you come up with the concept for the 3rd Act?

DG: I don’t know.

It was like something out of my 8 year old mind’s nightmares.

DG: That’s what it is. It was like getting in touch with that spirit of, if you were a kid and could do whatever you want and make whatever you want. Let your imagination run wild. It was just imaginations going crazy.