Twists abound

Because all of “The Cabin in the Woods” comes as something of a surprise, this horror film’s real twist is that a movie this clever could end up having an ending so outrageous, cheap and dumb.

It sets five teenagers loose in a slasher-film playground full of sex, booby traps and creepy gas station attendants before unleashing zombies to murder them.
The clever conceit is that this is a game by a secret shadow corporation pulling all the strings.

Director Drew Goddard and co-screenwriter Joss Whedon have a lot of fun calling attention to the fact this is all a set up, even going for big laughs in the way it tries to egg on these characters to whip out their breasts or choose between their deaths.

But “The Cabin in the Woods” begs you to notice its clever twists before topping itself with something even more out of left field.

Its ridiculously madcap and torrentially bloody ending dodges serious questions of voyeurism and human nature by employing a deus ex machina defending the greater good.

“The Cabin in the Woods” is little more than an idea that avalanched out of control to the point that it looks really cool but is still a mess.