9 Horror Movies That Reward You For Paying Attention

5. The Cabin In The Woods' Easter Eggs Turned Up Later On

The Conjuring 2 Valak
Lionsgate

The Cabin in the Woods is a bit of a strange beast when it comes to the perception of it.

When the Drew Goddard-directed film was given an early 2009 release date, the anticipation for the picture was white-hot from the horror community. Following a two-year delay that saw the movie not make it to multiplexes until 2011, that anticipation had all but been completely extinguished by the time that that picture did make it out to an audience.

At the time of its release, the reaction to The Cabin the Woods was a mixed one, to say the least. Yet here we are, ten years on from that cinema run, and the film is now viewed as somewhat of a modern-day horror classic.

One of the most fan-pleasing moments of The Cabin in the Woods is when we get to see the whiteboard of ideas and genre tropes that control the action of the lab-created, experimental setting that's at play in the film.

For those who stopped and took an extra few minutes to fully pay attention to this whiteboard and soak in all that's on it, the final act was massively rewarding, as so many of these famed horror mainstay characters and creatures are unleashed out of their cages to cause all kinds of carnage.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.