Last year I wrote the feature version of Dark Side Of Man. It has people being killed in horrible ways while people pay to watch it on their TVs. That's what I thought this was going to be. Some sort of horrible reality show. I think that would have been better than to have all this going on just to let sleeping Gods lie.

The force field reminded me of Stephen King's The Dome.

I didn't really care too much for the kids. I thought the workers were more fun. However, once it became clear that they wanted to celebrate their deaths, I sort of lost respect for them too and didn't care what happened to them.

Yes, this script is riddled with cliches so it must be a parody.

I groaned at the zombies and hated the ending, but other than that, I thought it was a pretty good read.

Quoted from dresseme You know, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if the beginning (with the sudden musical sting and title card) is a nod to Haneke's Funny Games.  It's possible it's not, but if you're familiar with the film, you'll remember it starts in a similar way.  But even though I dislike Haneke's films, I at least give him credit for having a point.  Even if his point is to feel superior to his audience.

I doubt it. Whedon/Goddard and Haneke seem to be on totally opposite ends of the spectrum. To the point that I doubt either are aware of the other's existence. Still, both had boring opening scenes interrupted by abrupt title cards. Only Haneke had a sweet John Zorn track kicking his off.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films The characters were dull, with the exception of Marty. None of the others stood out and they were all forgettable.

I thought Marty was pretty dull as well. I appreciated that he had a role in the script outside of getting blazed but his whole pseudo-intellectual schtick didn't interest me. Like the other characters, he felt like Whedon's interpretation of a horror cliche. It's better than your usual fair but still cliche. Also, I wonder how many of these writer/directors actually smoke pot or have done so in their lifetime. These types of characters never seem to ring true in the movies.

Quoted from James McClung I liked the "Costco of death" but once the monsters all got mixed together, it just felt like too much. I kept thinking about the South Park Imagination Land trilogy and how over-the-top that was.

I thought those South Park episodes too. I also remembered the series finale of Angel when all the monsters and demons were released onto Earth at the same time. I'm sure Whedon wrote and directed that episode. Very similar. Maybe he has a thing for hundreds of monsters on the screen at the same time.

I looked up the casting for the movie... not very impressive. Marty will be played by the geek Topher from Dollhouse. Doubt that will work, but we'll see.

OK people, sorry for getting to the dance late, but I'm here now. I read the script today.  I've got alot to say, but I don't want to shoot my wad right out of the gate, in terms of detail.  I hope we have a long discussion here.

In a nutshell, what did I think of this?  Complete fucking CRAP! Absolutely horrendous in every single way possible, and on every single level.  Shockingly, jaw-droppingly terrible.  I honestly believe that this is a joke, fake-leaked by someone having some fun with people like us...at least I hope so.

The writing, IMO, was abysmal.  Looked to me like it was either written by someone who decided to write a screenplay for the first time, or by someone trying to write as poorly as possible...kind of like "The Cabin" sequels.

"We see...", "We hear...", "The camera...", etc. Shocking!

The pathetic asides everywhere.  Sickening!

The HUGE blocks of text throughout.  Pitiful!

The cliches everywhere.  Pathetic!

The incomplete Slugs, grammar errors, awkward phrasing, incorrect (back and forth) use of names in Dialogue Boxes, oh, I could go on...

The story?  C'mon, man!  WTF?  Just downright embarrassing!  I don't even like the concept itself, but the ridiculous over the topness was just...well...it just SUCKED ASS!

The tone?  Hmmm...is it comedy?  Is it horror?  Or does it just suck?  It just sucks!

Again, I'd place good money (if I had some) on this turning out to be a big prank or scam on people who "find" unreleased scripts on the net and distribute them.  It's got to be.  If it's not, I'm almost speechless.

Just think what the reviews would look like if this was posted in here by an author we weren't familiar with. Would you think that the writer knew what he was doing?  Would you say it was well written?  Well conceived?  I sure hope not.

The ending?  WOW...what a fucking joke!  C'mon!

AS Joss obviously likes to say..."Let's get the party started!"

Quoted from Dreamscale   I hope we have a long discussion here.

That will really only happen if someone steps up and defends this puppy.  Particularly, the ending.  Maybe a good discussion would be, how should it have ended?  After all, a lot of people seem to like it up to the end, so the question is: what would they have wanted in an ending?

Quoted from Dreamscale I honestly believe that this is a joke, fake-leaked by someone having some fun with people like us...at least I hope so.

Nope. 100% real.  Although I did think so too the first time I read it.

Quoted from Dreamscale The cliches everywhere.  Pathetic!

The cliches, one could argue, were there to be cliche.  To play off the genre.  I'm in the group that says that it didn't really work.  I just felt like I was watching a particularly boring, run-of-the-mill horror film interspersed with some weird office scenes.

While I agree with some of Jeff's comments, if Whedon did write this, well, he's gonna write in his own way,as he will be filming it. So he'll put in all the rough angles and stuff.
He's not gonna be worried about how anyone thinks it should be writtten, is he? I remember reading some of Inglorious Basterds and it was written the same way.

But I totally agree on the whole 'feel' of the script. It would work either as a straight out parody or straight out full on horror. At the moment, it's neither here nor there.
It doesn't really bother me as I wouldn't be seeing it anyway. But its sort of a shame as I loved 'Serenity'.

Matt, I can't really say how I think it should have ended, because it was so fucked up almost right out of the gate.

When they entered the basement, I had some hopes for it, but once the zombies (Zombies?  Fucking zombies?  Are you kidding me?) lumbered in, it was even further downhill, IMO.

On a different note, some people referenced Scream and similarities, etc.  I don't agree at all. Scream really wasn't a parody at all.  It obviously had its moments and intentionally made everyone aware that horror movies usually involve stupid characters doing stupid things, but it was serious for the most part.  None of this was serious, IMO, yet it involved all sorts of graphic violence, which just seemed so out of place.

I guess the best comparison would be the Evil Dead movies, but then again, those movies worked based on the Ash character, IMO...as well as some great camera work.  It was also a "new" concept, being that it was almost 30 years ago.

Sorry, i meant Scary Movie' not 'Scream'.

I think some people mentioned Scream earlier...

Quoted from Dreamscale I think some people mentioned Scream earlier...

I think Scream is an apt comparison, far more than Scary Movie.  I would only compare it against Scream to say its inferior though.  Scream picked apart the slasher genre, but at the same time made a damn compelling story with engaging characters.  This does none of that.  It makes cookie-cutter characters only so it can go "Get how cliche they are?!?"  Cabin in the Woods basically spends its entire length begging you to like it.

I don't see any reference to Scream here...

I thought that the "Control Room" was inside the head of a horror writer. He had to please himself, his audience... With sacrifices.. Actually like that ending better then what transpires...

Fuck me, This whole things a mess...

I think Scream is a fair comparison but certainly not a good one. Scream brought a lot of horror cliches to the forefront but only in dialogue and the killer's M.O. Other than that, it seemed to take place in a "real" world. The sequels got a little more self-aware what with the Stab movie-within-a-movie but overall, I think it's more satire than parody.

This one seemed to take place in the "real" world at first but still forced the characters to act out the cliches. By the end, it's a full blown parody and whatever the story had going for it, whether you think it's a little or a lot, becomes worthless.

In short, I think you can make references to genre conventions without imitating them. In this case, I think Scream did and this one didn't.

What I think the two have most in common is that they were both made by people who don't give a shit about the genre. When that's the case, there's only so much you can take from the story.

Quoted from dresseme That will really only happen if someone steps up and defends this puppy.  Particularly, the ending.  Maybe a good discussion would be, how should it have ended?  After all, a lot of people seem to like it up to the end, so the question is: what would they have wanted in an ending? Nope. 100% real.  Although I did think so too the first time I read it. The cliches, one could argue, were there to be cliche.  To play off the genre.  I'm in the group that says that it didn't really work.  I just felt like I was watching a particularly boring, run-of-the-mill horror film interspersed with some weird office scenes.

I thought the ending was ridiculous and absurd...but at least it was its own ending. Without it the film is just a very poor mans Evil Dead or Dead Snow.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films I thought the ending was ridiculous and absurd...but at least it was its own ending. Without it the film is just a very poor mans Evil Dead or Dead Snow.

Which ending are we talking here? The stupid action movie or the ancient evil gods? If they'd scrapped the evil gods, it would've just been stupid and not a complete fucking copout. If it'd ended as some evil horror movie production house getting what they deserve, it might not have been so bad. Maybe not so good either but I certainly wouldn't have the same animosity toward it as it is now.

First off, could someone please send me the script. Thanks.

My following comments will undermine - in some eyes - my views. But still.

This is not a direct attempt to play devil's advocate, but it really has to be said, and is as much a general view as one geared towards this very thread.

There was a time when I feared saying the patently obvious to avoid being ostracised, but that time has long passed. This is not about being argumentative but highlighting some fairly obnoxious commentary on someone's work. So the guy made it and now deserves a pounding from a bunch of insecure amateurs? It reeks of tabloid 'build 'em up and knock 'em down'.

Where's the film theory or the reasoned arguments? Btw, I exclude Rick and Dressel who do not fall to such a limited scope, as well as some other reasonable reviews.

I get it, people will think I am an arrogant arsehole or worse for this 'calling out' thread - but it makes the comments no less valid. Reasonable people like our very own bert would delete such nonsense for a review of a SS'ers work.

Some of the comments here are nearing that of rabid dogs. There appears to be a bathing of lock-out whereby a 'group think' of screenwriting has taken hold - coupled with what Craig Flintstone (correctly in my opinion) termed as 'grandiose' behaviour. I imagine there will be a sense of obligatory 'who cares what he thinks' as people swarm in a sense of shallow superiority.

This guy is getting his work produced - the vast majority of people here are not. We can explain away this inconvenient fact on 'luck', or just calculate some basic factors: he has talent and is able to write with a market in mind.

So, why write this? Why be a prick to those just expressing their views? 'Cos some of the approaches to reviewing this work is of 'getcha' mentality, and this type of limited scope will forever corner people on the outside looking in.

Andrew