Entertainment Weekly - October 20, 2017

look huge, the crew built

smaller cubes in which they

placed and shot the critters.

“It worked like gangbusters,”

Goddard says, adding that

the unconventional cat-as-

monster may have been person-

ally inspired: “Iamhilariously

allergic to them.”

GARDEN OF EVIL

A tip of the hat to Sam Raimi’s

Evil Deadfranchise, the “Angry

Molesting Tree” featured heavily

inCabin. “It was like that Chris-

topher Walken [SNL] sketch—

‘More cowbell!’ ” he explains.

“Every time I saw a shot, I’d say,

‘More Molesting Tree!’ ”

DIE, ROBOT

The killer robot seen scampering

throughout the film was, believe

it or not, based on a dog. “The

THE CABIN

IN THE WOODS’

CUBES

The most memorable shot in the 2012
horror send-up is the stuff of literal
nightmares. DirectorDREW GODDARD
breaks downs the murderers, maniacs,
and merman inside the world’s
worst elevator.By Shirley Li

MEET THE MONSTERS INSIDE

Illustration byTim McDonagh

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IN PLAIN FRIGHT

“The simplest creatures tended

to be the freakiest,” Goddard

says. Case in point: the family in

doll masks, the man suffocating

in plastic, and the KKK. “When

you’re thinking of the great evils

of the world, I would put the

KKK near the top of the list.”

CLASSIC CALLOUTS

“The spirit of [Cabin] dictated

that we do our own thing,” says

Goddard, but he couldn’t resist a

fewnods. Ones that made the

cut:The Shining,The Blob, and

Reavers fromFirefly(a shout-out

toCabin co-writer Joss Whedon).

GIGANTIC BEASTS (AND HOW

TO FEAR THEM)

Cats and tarantulas and snakes,

oh my! To make regular animals

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