The Cabin in the Woods

Trivia: Actual "Cannabis Experts" were brought in to consult with actor Fran Kranz, so he could properly portray a convincing stoner in the film.

The Cabin in the Woods trivia picture

Trivia: The movie pays tribute to many famous horror movie monsters. The creature with the Buzz-Saws in its head with the Puzzle Orb is based off PinHead. Once it's free, you can see a Chatterbox-influenced cenobyte standing next to it. The people with ceramic masks who tie up and torture the scientists are based off The Strangers. The psychotic clown with the knife can either be seen as a tribute to PennyWise or Killer Clowns from Other Space. The massive killer bat is obviously from the movie BATS. A chainsaw can be heard as the different monitors are showing the slaughter - indicating LeatherFace. The ghoul-doctors operating on a victim while staring into the camera is based off House on Haunted Hill. The Red-Neck zombies brought to life through an incantation from a book is a tribute from The Evil Dead. The Scare-Crow-like zombies who kill the black security guard are based off of the movie ScareCrow.

Trivia: One of the creatures glimpsed jumping out of the lift is one of the small monsters which attack people in the subway in "Cloverfield". The director of this movie, Drew Goddard, wrote Cloverfield.

Jon Sandys

Trivia: The wolf's head was covered in a fine dusting of powdered sugar. This served two purposes - first, to give it an aged, "dusty" look, and second, to make the prop taste better when one of the characters "makes out" with it.

Trivia: The film was completed in 2009, but release was postponed until 2012. The official explanation was because Lionsgate wanted to spend an extra year or two post-converting the film into 3D. It was also speculated that the film was postponed partially because actor Chris Hemsworth and co-writer Joss Whedon would subsequently work on several films in the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" (with Hemsworth starring in "Thor" and "The Avengers", and Whedon directing "The Avengers"), and Lionsgate was hoping that their increased public awareness would boost box-office numbers and DVD/Blu-Ray sales.

Trivia: In addition to the many on-screen references to horror films, Jodelle Ferland (who portrays the zombie "Patience Buckner") appeared in the horror-film "Silent Hill", giving the movie yet another significant connection to horror films throughout history.

Trivia: The bong that could be cleverly disguised as a coffee mug actually was completely functional, and could both be used as an actual bong and mug. The production amusingly spent several thousand dollars making the prop.

Trivia: Fran Kranz, who plays stoner Marty, had to wear baggy clothing for his role in the film, as the filmmakers realized he was incredibly fit, and didn't quite look the part of the lanky, somewhat meek stoner he was playing. The scene where the characters go swimming at the lake actually had to be re-written so his character wouldn't go swimming as originally planned, as Franz was in such good shape he looked as good, if not better, than the other male actors.

Trivia: After releasing the zombies, when they show the command center with who won the bet if you freeze and look at the boards with all the creatures' names on it, in the left row 2 or 3 from the bottom is the name Kevin - most likely Kevin from Sin City, who was a mute, cannibalistic serial killer.

The Cabin in the Woods mistake picture

Continuity mistake: Before Dana and Marty enter the control room and release all the monsters into the control centre, there is a thermos flask and a torch sitting next to each other on the control room's desk. But once they enter the control room, the position of the thermos flask and torch have changed without anyone touching them.

THGhost

More mistakes in The Cabin in the Woods

The Director: This is all most unpleasant. I know you can hear me. I hope you'll listen. You won't get out of this complex alive. What I want you to try to understand is that you mustn't. Your deaths will avert countless others. You've seen horrible things: an army of nightmare creatures. And they are real. But they are nothing compared to what lies beneath us. There is a greater good, and for that you must be sacrificed. Forgive us... And let us end it quickly.

More quotes from The Cabin in the Woods

Question: Is there a reason, that a facility full of monsters would ever, under any circumstances have a System Purge button? Is it just to make satire of the fact that the antagonist is usually stupid?

Answer: As you said, it is a satire of the common Deus Ex Machina trope you find in such films.

More questions & answers from The Cabin in the Woods

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.