10 Horror Movies That Judge You For Watching
9. The Cabin In The Woods
The Cabin in the Woods is a gloriously meta horror-comedy that takes the typical titular setup and flips it entirely on its head. In the third act, it's revealed that the cliched cabin scenario is actually part of a ritual to satify the Ancient Ones.
By setting up these familiar horror situations worldwide - styled after every imaginable horror trope - and manipulating the outcome, the Ancient Ones are left satisfied and agree to remain underground without disturbing Earth.
Clearly, the Ancient Ones are a substitute for horror movie fans themselves, who for decades have gladly paid top dollar for ultra-formulaic horror fare.
Hell, Bradley Whitford's scientist character Hadley even takes time to lament the fact that, across all of these rituals, he's never once seen something truly uncanny - a merman.
The fact that the tropes are presented as a ritual in the film really just crystallises how utterly overdone the nudity and gore audiences expect truly is.
To top the metaphor off, when the protagonists refuse to bow to the Ancient Ones, the Ancient Ones end the movie by bursting out of the Earth and presumably destroying the world.
Too, if movie audiences don't get what they want, they'll make Hollywood pay for it - by voting with their wallet.