I'm not sure how to explain The Cabining without pretty much ruining it. So, fair warning. (For the record, I'd say it's probably not worth seeing anyways.) Think of an awkward indie-horror version of Adaptation... it's got some of the meta-ness of Cabin in the Woods, but it just isn't particularly clever. It's not stupid, but it's not smart either. And this is the type of story that requires some smarts and finesse, and unfortunately The Cabining doesn't have either.
Todd and Bruce are buddies trying to make it as screenwriters. The problem is they are terrible. Supposedly they've been at it for years, but their scripts are laughably bad. Todd is the more serious one - he's concerned with rent and, uh... writing. His buddy Bruce just kind of goofs around all the time and doesn't really even try to write. And in the off chance he has an idea, it usually sucks. So yeah, not much of a team. Anyways, the pair is lamenting the fact that their most recent attempt at a horror script was laughed out of a writing workshop. Plus, they stand to lose Todd's rich uncle's (Richard Riehle, Skype-ing it in) investment if they don't get something good together... and fast.
Even though it makes no sense for his character (he's a doofy, boozy, and horny type), Bruce is also into new-agey shit. He convinces Todd to go to a cabin/artist retreat, where he says they can get inspired to finish the script once and for all. Also at the cabin? A sensitive musician, a writer trying to finish her novel, a French artiste, and a really weird red herring guy who makes art out of garbage. Throw in the staff and you got a nice little group of eight or so people to be murdered. Which starts happening. After the first murder, Bruce convinces Todd to stay (for inspiration, I guess), and for some reason no one else leaves. And good times were had by all. That's not true... more people get murdered. At least there's a little romance in there for our heroes.
So The Cabining is going more for laughs than for scares, and it is sometimes successful in that respect. Some of the jokes land, and I laughed a few times throughout the film. Mike Kopera (Todd) and Bo Keister (Bruce) have OK chemistry together, but I thought Bruce just didn't work. As a character, he doesn't behave in a realistic way and is pretty annoying. And Keister's performance is just too broad and loud for my liking. He's trying too hard to be funny at all times, and his delivery is just too distracting. He's way more of the comic relief role - and sometimes you can see that the jokes would've been good on paper, but they just don't work the way they are executed.
And again, The Cabining tries to be surprising but you can kind of see where it's heading. (Beware of any self-referential comedy about writing a script.) The Cabining picked two movies to emulate that are really hard to stack up to. You can't help but compare it's meta-ness (and title) to (the great) Cabin in the Woods, and it has many obvious similarities to (the also pretty great) Adaptation. The Cabining just simply can't compete.
But even when taken on it's own it never really clicks. I didn't respond to any of the characters: they're just a little too generic. And I guess you could defend that by saying "of course, they're making fun of poorly written characters in horror movies." But I'd argue that they should be entertaining, or at the very least say something about their generic-ness or genre. I feel like The Cabining kind of wants it both ways (genuine and generic), and it just doesn't pan out.
Horror-wise, The film probably peaks during the opening credits. It's a nicely shot sequence of a room where there's clearly been a struggle, and the camera focuses in on little messes here and there while you piece together the whole picture. It's got a nice dark look to it, and there's a sense of foreboding here that is absent for the rest of the film. Otherwise - yes, you've got some deaths and some blood, but nothing to splattery or otherwise memorable. The Cabining is much more a comedy with some murders, rather than something that seems interested in generating any legitimate scares or tension.
I would not recommend this film.
Horror-wise, The film probably peaks during the opening credits. It's a nicely shot sequence of a room where there's clearly been a struggle, and the camera focuses in on little messes here and there while you piece together the whole picture. It's got a nice dark look to it, and there's a sense of foreboding here that is absent for the rest of the film. Otherwise - yes, you've got some deaths and some blood, but nothing to splattery or otherwise memorable. The Cabining is much more a comedy with some murders, rather than something that seems interested in generating any legitimate scares or tension.
Ultimately, you have to kind of admire the ambitiousness of The Cabining. But it's not that clever, and it's all kind of been done before. There are some laughs to be had and it's not a chore to sit through or anything, but it's still not very good.
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