These days, when you watch a horror movie trailer, you think you know how everything will play out. However, this is not the case when it comes to the film The Cabin in the Woods, which is currently available for viewing on Netflix.

The movie presented in the trailer follows the story of five college kids who decide to take a vacation to a remote cabin in the woods, where eventually things take a turn for the worst. Sounds cliché enough, right?

However, the story that writers Drew Goddard (who is also the director) and Joss Whedon (who directed The Avengers) translate onto the big screen takes every horror movie cliché and gives it a twist that the audience would never expect.

From its unexpected opening scene, Cabin in the Woods will throw off any idea you have of how this movie will play out. Goddard and Whedon managed to pull off that sense of ambiguity through the entire film by keeping the audience engaged and anticipating what would happen next.

The characters, though seemingly mere archetypes, are actually used by the writers as a satire of all the typical horror film characters. Clever writing and character development, alongside great casting, have the audience rooting for these characters rather than their downfall.

If you’re looking for a standard slasher horror movie, this film may not be for you. Without giving too much away, all that can be said is that this film is a fantastic example of how to poke fun and get rid of audiences’ horror movie expectations. It may seem a bit much sometimes throughout the film, but it is exactly what it needs to be.

The writers dared to show a different type of horror flick, and they delivered.