*THE CABIN IN THE WOODS* is absolutely insane... 

Nat: "He's like that annoying stoner that really thinks he's like a revolutionary. I'm like no dude you're just high." Marty: *Ends the world *

One of the reasons I love this film is that its all about hubris. The controllers have done this so many times that they no longer are as careful or precise about the sacrifices as they might have once been. They're supposed to gather up and sacrifice a bunch of young people who fit certain archetypes (the Virgin, the Whore, the Athlete, the Scholar, and the Fool). The problem is, they get the archetypes wrong. They've assigned the roles to Dana (Virgin), Jules (Whore), Curt (Athlete), Holden (Scholar), and Marty (Fool), when none of them actually fit those roles. Dana might seem virginal, but early in the movie she confesses to an affair with her professor. Jules is sexy and dresses skimpy, but she's also flighty and overly concerned with non-important things in her life; also she is in a clearly loving and utterly monogamous relationship with Curt, which hardly fits the whore archetype. Curt might seem like a jock, but his athletic skills are mediocre at best, and he's seen lugging around high-level textbooks dealing with subjects like the Psychology of the Soviet System. Holden is smart, sure, but at the same time he's clearly more athletic than Curt is, and while he has the raw intelligence, he's clearly lazy about it. And Marty... well, Marty might be a stoner but he also admits he's never had sex in his life. So... Had the controllers done the research, they would have realized that the archetypes should have been assigned with Dana being the Whore, Jules being the Fool, Curt being the Scholar, Holden being the Athlete, and Marty being the Virgin.

Movies like this really should be celebrated. I don't mean the violence and stuff but unique, creative, well executed ideas that simultaneously subvert expectations while also just being fun.

There was a funny interview with Joss Whedon about actor Fran Kranz who played Marty. When he showed up on set, he had gotten completely jacked and ripped for a previous role. Whedon was like "Uh, were going to need to keep you in baggy shirts and jackets, because you're supposed to be a lazy stoner and you look like a Navy Seal."

"We're not the only ones watching, kid." "Gotta keep the customer satisfied." We, the audience, are the Old Gods. I love this movie so damn much.

I love how meta this movie is. It's a satire of the horror movie genre of the time.

She was the perfect "Ancient One" watching this film, the minute it started she started guessing who would die and why based on movie cliches, anyone expecting everything to play out like a regular horror movie is an "Ancient One" which, pretty much before this kind of movie was a thing, were everyone

Drew Goddard said he's never seen someone so excited to meet a werewolf as sigourney weaver. Whenever she was on set she was like "where's the werewolf? Is the werewolf here today?" She'd eat lunch next to him. And there's a bts photo of the cast and you can see sigourney weaver holding the werewolf's hand positively BEAMING with glee

They did do the blood ritual for Marty, the one with the cup. But If you remember, after they did that, the frame shook, and it never did that with any of the other victims. It shook because the ancient ones knew he was still alive, and therefore, they were mad. It is such a tiny detail you don't really think about, unless you watch the movie again.

If you enjoyed this one, Tucker and Dale vs Evil is a good slasher comedy. It would be really fun to see your reaction ❤️

The Blonde was the smartest (intellectually) the bunch. The scientists messed with the hair dye to cause her to dumb down. (The sexy dumb blonde trope) The final girl trope, the stoner, the jock, all are needed for the sacrifice. But I thought making the smartest one a "dumb blonde" was really clever. Also, don't split up. My favorite line is when Dana says "I'm not a virgin!" and Sigourney Weaver says "We work with what we have."

Sigourney Weaver is beloved in the horror community, I watch somewhere that the director wanted specifically to cast her for that role but he thought that she wouldn't accept to it cause it wasn't a big movie but she accepted (obviously) and was so happy and excited with the werewolf taking pictures, some actually said that the scene with the werewolf was actually to make her even happier

Opening night in the theaters for this movie was hands down my favorite movie theater experience. Since none of us knew what was about to happen, the audience was ROARING. It was perfection.

The cup bong is one of the most iconic things in this entire movie...when this movie was released every stoner wanted one.

I love how Natalie is listing all the horror tropes near the start, not knowing that's literally what the film is about, because I remember doing it myself! This movie was so fun and so clever, a personal fav of mine

Along with the first Scream, this is the ultimate meta deconstructed horror movie.

How just about every Cabin in the Woods reaction goes: Oh, man. Marty is gonna die first. I can't wait. 30 mins later... If the kill Marty, I swear to...

I love that this movie is a perfect safety net to excuse the ridiculous choices made by people in horror movies for the past 40 years. Even on multiple watches I'm still learning new things.

Cabin in the Woods is 100% one of my greatest cinema regrets in not seeing it till it hit home video. It is such an amazing, self referential horror comedy that up ends so many tropes. It’ll be a 4K buy for me.

I think one of the biggest “Ohh I get it” moments was one so many see on a rewatch or have good memory lol. Is when they shatter the container for “the fool” in sacrifice parts of the stone crack and the area suffers a minor rumbling that shows the ancient ones anger/growing irritation. A good hint that he was actually alive. Such a good movie

Btw if you didn't realize WE are the ancients, the audience who watches these messed up movies, they need to satisfy us in order to stay alive and continue to make more so movies can turn into series and franchises, such a brilliant movie!

Cabin in the Woods is one of my favorite horror movies. It's so much fun with such an interesting premise.

Given how much you liked this, I'd suggest doing 'Tucker & Dale Vs Evil' for next years Natmare season.

That cold opening was the fastest I immediately knew I'd found a new favorite movie. This film was an absolute hoot and played so much with the tropes we all know and love. The best meta horror since Scream!

When this came out, I went into the movie theatre basically on a whim and didn't know anything about this movie. It became one of my all time favorite movies.

I was completely impressed by the work Joss Whedon put into this movie. It is a unique take on the whole formula for the monster type horror movies; very similar to what Scream did with the Slasher sub-genre of horror. Absolutely one of my most favorite movies.

25:27, actually.......unicorns were believed to be vicious creatures. Especially in Celtic mythology. That's why the Unicorn fights the lion. Not sure how and when they became docile and "girly."

Even before things started going crazy, I felt like these kids were a perfect one-to-one match for the Scooby gang. And it fits that Shaggy and Scooby Doo were the last to survive.

Guess Nat didn't notice and pause on the chalkboard like I did first time watching. I had to figure out WTF was going on. The blackboard is hillarious.

Co-written by Joss Whedon (watch Buffy!). While it certainly can be enjoyed cold, it really helps to have seen a lot of horror films. The Evil Dead is a big reference. The guy holding the sphere with the blades in his head is a reference to Hellraiser. Tucker and Dale vs Evil is another movie that plays with the conventions of the genre and flips the usual perspective on its head.

the only thing we are missing now is "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil"

Glad you enjoyed it, Cabin In The Woods is such a fun movie. It's a shame it's your last Halloween film because if you enjoyed this, I think you'd love Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil, another absolutely fantastic horror/comedy with some great trope reinterpretations.

You really NEED to react to Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. It is one of the best horror comedies of all time and you would love it. Also, it got Alan Tydik.

I'm very happy you enjoyed this. The first time I saw this, I was lucky enough to go into it without knowing a single thing. It's a very fun movie and it's an absolutely great concept.

I love how it's heavily insinuated that this is a Wolfram and Heart facility designed to hold one of the original old Demons that walked the earth before slayers existed and millions of years before the events of Buffy.

The scenes in the labyrinth with all the creatures is probably the most “freeze framed” in recent film history. Maybe ever! You just want to go back and see what you missed the first time!

The characters also align with the characters from Scooby Doo, though I guess those are archetypes as much as any

The ancient ones are a metaphor for the audience of modern horror movies! and the role of director takes place for a movie's director. The idea behind this movie is that it can be applied to nearly any modern horror movie in America!

"Have not had a glitch since '98" lol AMAZING! The Faculty was a great movie! Also, Marty was always speaking truths, but I think you may have fallen to pre-conceived notions of stoners and did not give him enough credit out of the gate. We all have our ingrained notions that we need to dispel from time to time lol jk

I'm so glad you watched this without being spoiled about what it was about. It's designed to play you like a fiddle with all of your knowledge of horror movies. And it's kind of ruined if you know the premise going into it. When this came out in theaters, I feel like there was a deliberate movement among people who saw it to help keep it not spoiled for those who hadn't seen it yet.

This movie totally blew me away when I watched it This movie is also a commentary on viewers.... The gods are us the viewers of horror movies, Scientist are the creators of horror movies and the people trapped are like characters of the horror movies ...

Yep, I don't particularly like most horror movies so this was a great way to incorporate the tropes in a novel and interesting story that was more than just a horror film.

I love how dead wrong Nat is about literally everything! hahaha makes her reactions so much better!

Look up "the Ancient Ones of Lovecraft Mythos" H.P. Lovecraft pretty much started the Eldritch Horror genre. He created a pantheon of ancient races and the Gods they worshiped he freely allowed others to use them in their stories. Cabin In The Woods is a very Lovecraftian story.

I feel like if Angel had continued for a few more seasons it would lead to something like this. Fred being in it adds to that Angel vibe too.

What is really fun is to imagine these people watching and orchestrating the other horror movies that came out before this. They are the reason that these monsters really always come back

"We're not the only ones watching, kid. Gotta keep the customer satisfied." The writers were referring to the movie-goer, playing into how nearly every horror film from the 70's on included T&A to appease the movie audience.

The reference to a screw up in 1998 is a fun little Easter Egg. Fans have suggested several references including everything from The Cabin (1998) to an insulting reference to Godzilla (1998). The main contenders are Halloween H20 (where the final girl kills the killer) and The Faculty (where not only do the kids survive, but the failure is chemistry related).

Yayyyyyyy I was hoping for this! The first time I watched this as soon as the credits rolled I knew it was one of my favourite films. I usually have a double bill of this and Evil Dead 2 every Halloween :)

Yay! I'm SO excited for your reaction on this one. Love this film a lot. The other horror comedy (mostly comedy) that spoofs the 'cabin in the woods' trope is "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil" that's a lot of fun. Sillier overall than this film, but a lot of fun.

I'm one of the people that recommended this movie so thank you for doing this one. This movie is amazing and a truly underrated classic.

I'm really glad you did this one Nat. Highly underrated film for what it is.

That this film is a good way to finish Natmares, cinematically-speaking. We really needed some great suggestions for next year's so Tucker and Dale can fill the same role.

This movie, to me, is a satire/commentary of horror movies in general! I love how it has all of the classic tropes, but makes them all part of the deeper ritual going on

The Old One(s)/The Ancient One(s) is/are based on H.P Lovecraft's mythology with otherworldly deities like Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth, Kthaw'keth and so on. In this case it's based on the most well known cosmic entity of Lovecraft's pantheon, Cthulhu. This movie is mixing many horror tropes into one, ranging from Lovecraftian horror (early 1900's) to modern horror tropes.

I loved how the film used the horror tropes to explain why the sacrifice didn't work. None of the people in the gang fitted properly into the stereotypes: the virgin was sleeping with her teacher, the promiscuous blonde was dying her hair and was manipulated using chemicals, the jock was into philosophy etc. Joss did a good job sketching this out.

Nat: "Who commissioned this???" Me: "We did. You did. You're watching it for entertainment right now!" :D

I've always liked the fan theory that this is the apocalyptic event that cause people to flee earth in Firefly...

Was really in awe when I was this movie. To take a genre and it's famous tropes and flip it on its head was just an enjoyable breath of fresh air to me. The homage to the creatures we all know and love, the clever 4th wall breaking while still kinda not breaking it and making it a key element of the story is amazing. Everything about this is just *chef's kiss PERFECT.

i love this film because it makes it possible that every horror film ever made was in this universe being played out like this, nutty

Lmao this movie is awesome for the fact a Stoner survived most of the horribleness 😂

This movie has possibly the funniest death scene ever put on film.

This movie is so good that I couldn't wait more than 3 and a half minutes into the video to comment about how much I love this movie. The best way to go into this movie is knowing next to nothing. I'm a big horror fan so all I was told when it came out is that it deconstructs horror tropes in a clever way and I was sold. One of the most unpredictable movie experiences of my life. This video being here has made my day. Thank you, Natalie!

I love this movie so much. As many have already stated the archetypes (the Virgin, the Whore, the Athlete, the Scholar, and the Fool) are the usual characters in a Hollywood horror movie. Same can be seen when they talk about Japanese horror movies usually featuring schoolkids. Also the Old Ones are us the audience. And one of the controllers mentions later on in the movie that if the old ones are not pleased their world gets destroyed as in it does not get a sequel.

I love that they went so far into detail that all the monsters have their own lore

This movie is awesome. Kind of reminds me of the The Final Girls in terms of being meta.

Love that you loved it. It's so brilliant! A satirical take on the entire horror genre, where if all the right tropes are met, it appeases the consumer... Yep, the "Ancient Ones" are audiences, unaccepting of anything outside the box within the genre. It's a fantastic horror movie as well as a big middle finger 😂

I was lucky enough to watch this in a stacked theatre with Horror movie fans, and it was a standing ovation at the end. Everyone in that theatre loved it and it's been in my movie collection now for years. It's a yearly watch for me. Glad you got around to watch this, Nat!

I love that Illyria is in this movie :-) The movie is really great and unique :)

The real twist was going to be the young girl shooting the stoner…who was in fact the true virgin unknown to even the game crew! It was going to trigger the hands. Look for the setup because all that was left in just reshot the end twist (or more accurately shot multiple endings because they weren’t ready to pick one.)

YES!! The Cabin in the Woods. I am glad you watch this movie. This movie is something else.

Remember the rumbling after Marty "died" that didn't happen any other time? Still my favorite tiny detail is the wormy intern on of the screens using a sign to beg for help. My favorite joke has to be "Oh come on!?"

I'm glad you didn't research too much into this movie. Good call, please never change, so that you can enjoy the twists and turns more :) This movie is a parody, with disgusting and unnerving aspects, and a serious plot / twist that people don't expect. I think the unexpected is the selling point of this film. And Marty is the embodiment of that, he's the unexpected hero, a badass, a smort boi xD

The reason that Marty’s stereotype was bloodied even though he wasn’t dead is because it’s not their blood. It’s lamb blood that symbolizes each of them and because they thought he died, they prematurely filled his symbol with blood.

The cast, the direction and the execution make this the best horror cliche deconstruction i can imagine! Glad you liked it!!!

When I saw this movie I instantly fell in love with it!!! Getting to see all the monsters at the end was just so awesome and the whole plot and execution of it was just amazing.

Natalies laugh soothes my soul. You know which laugh im talking about

Sister, this is my ultimate favorite that I search DAILY for to see if any new reactions have been uploaded. You upload NOW and now I gotta be late for work. Lmao.

Such a brilliant movie. The fact that is both makes fun of and also pays homage to all the horror movie tropes is just wonderful.

The first time I saw this movie, knowing nothing about it, I was just flipping through the channels. I came in right before the bird hit the forcefield. I was immediately hooked and it just kept getting better.

When they asked Sigourney Weaver to be in the movie, she had one condition: I want to meet a Werewolf. And god dammit, she got her wish. They had the guy in the full suit for her at the premiere, and there's a video of Weaver giddy like a child taking pictures with him. It's adorable XD

Favorite death is if you miss the bird at the beginning it makes chris hemsworth's death even more shocking, I noticed it and got so excited when he grabbed the dirt bike

One of my favorite movies! So glad you are able to see it.

I watch for Natalie’s reactions AND this top notch editing. Adds so much humor to her already great commentary.

"Chris Hemsworth is in this" "I think a lot of people will die" Everyone smiles at this "I don't know how far he'll make it" Everyone smiles more. Fun Fact: The stoner wears all those cloths because the actor is actually super jacked.

Did you get the meta jokes and satirical stuff? “The ancient ones”, for instance, were a stand in for the audience. They have to accept what the filmmakers have made or the movie will bomb critically and/or financially.

The monsters being unleashed at the end was one of my absolute favorite scenes of all time. I had the biggest smile on my face the entire time. As a horror/monster fan it was a dream come true to see all those monsters freed and causing absolute havoc.

This movie is definitely one of the movies where the less someone knows going in the better the experience is. And if that person is also familiar with horror movies and their tropes.

For years I worked as an engineer in the Defense Contractor industry, and I feel like I worked with the people running the cabin in this movie. A bunch of math and engineering nerds with no hobbies (not even nerdy ones) wearing white button-down shirts, ties and pocket protectors - that had no moral qualms about inventing weapon systems that turned people into smoked sausage. And they all thought I was the weird guy because I had friends, played video games and read something other than technical manuals. I was working up the nerve to give two weeks notice when I got laid off, and it's the best thing that ever happened to me. I didn't want to end up one of the soul-less guys in this movie, working 9 to 5 for Evil Inc.

Us seeing all the monsters let loose, is kinda like Josh Whedon finally giving us the final battle from Angel we never got to see.

I haven't even watched yet, but I so love that you decided to watch this.

I knew this would be a great reaction. Because it's truly one of the best campiest trope filled cliche hits all the notes in a creative genius way. That noooo one expected the first time we went to see it. Brilliant film

The audience who view horror films are the "Ancients", demanding that kids get sacrificed in any number of ways to satisfy those who watch. Not the most subtle of messages, but fully accurate.

I went to see this movie with my 65 year old mother and she loved it. Just let’s me know the weirdness runs in the bloodline. 😂

I love to imagine the control room being beneath all other horror movies. Still one of my favorite movies.

The film is filled to the brim with cool trivia! It was shot in 2009, and Chris Hemsworth's performance here brought him to the attention of Marvel studios. The kids are the Scooby gang in all but name, if you count "Holden" as Scooby. The cabin itself is an homage to Sam Raimi's low budget horror, The Evil Dead. "The Ancient Ones"are in a sense the audience, demanding the story fulfill certain cliches. They're also an homage to The Old Ones, and the 20th century's greatest master of horror, HP Lovecraft (so named by the 21st century's master, Stephen King.) Nobody's yet made THE Lovecraft movie, but ALIEN, In the Mouth of Madness, and this film come closest.

This movie is showing that weed is NOT A SIN! And it keeps people healthy and living for longer. That's why our hero survived to the end and smiled

Natalie: "I think Marty is going to die first" Me: A little off on that guess lol

Another movie I put off for a while and then was so entertained by its unique approach.

I love that you switched from disliking Marty to loving him. Please watch the Dollhouse series, for more of the actor's brilliance. Please. You won't regret it.