The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

The Cabin in the Woods parents guide

No surprises for an R: real scares and several jump scares.

Scare

Properly scary

Frightening, not just tense.

Jump scares

Several

More than a couple of sudden jolts.

Gore

Graphic gore

Blood and wounds shown clearly.

Violence

Strong violence

Violence is frequent or intense.

Sex and nudity

Moderate

Moderate means a sex scene or nudity on screen, even brief, or sexual violence that is described or implied but never shown.

Language

Strong

Frequent strong profanity or slurs.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

Three questions

Is The Cabin in the Woods scary?

Yes, properly. The Cabin in the Woods is the real thing without being an endurance test.

How gory is The Cabin in the Woods?

Graphic gore and strong violence. If graphic gore is a dealbreaker, skip it.

What is The Cabin in the Woods rated, and is it OK for kids?

Rated R, and it earns it: real scares, several jump scares, and moderate sex and nudity. Not one for kids.

What is The Cabin in the Woods about?

Five friends set out for a weekend at a remote cabin in the woods, expecting nothing more than fun and relaxation. As night falls, they discover that something far more unsettling is at work and that nothing about their getaway is what it seems.

Cast and crew

More like The Cabin in the Woods

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• The Menu (2022)Mildly scary · graphic gore · strong violence · emotionally heavyA remote island restaurant serves up darkly-comic horror and gritty, suspenseful satire with every course.
• What We Do in the Shadows (2014)Mildly scary · light gore · measuredVampire housemates navigate modern life's absurdities with darkly comic wit and whimsical, undead charm.
• Parasite (2019)Darkly comic · graphic gore · brutal violence · emotionally devastatingA poor family's grift of the wealthy Parks escalates into a darkly comic and bleakly suspenseful class struggle.
• An American Werewolf in London (1981)Properly scary · graphic gore · strong violence · measuredAmerican tourists face gruesome changes and dark humor after a savage attack on the Yorkshire Moors.
• Psycho (1960)Properly scary · light gore · strong violence · emotionally heavyA woman on the run finds a chilling, atmospheric motel where dread steadily builds to a shocking twist.
• Chucky (2021)Properly scary · graphic gore · strong violence · briskA vintage doll brings darkly comic chaos and suspenseful murders to a town exposing its deepest hypocrisies.

The Cabin in the Woods is on our Zombies, Horror on Max, Comedy on Max, Mystery on Max and AMC+ lists.

More like this feeling

Prompts we typed into CouchRot, and the lists that share its tags.

• “a fun halloween movie, not too scary”
• “funny but not stupid, under two hours”
• “a horror movie that's actually scary”

Lists with the same feel: Weird and surreal and Late night.