The Cabin in the Woods

Yesterday saw the release of the latest Film By Democracy poll results which decided the type of character that the main protagonist for Project A is going to be. It was a photo finish with...

THE BORN SURVIVOR 

...taking 19% of the votes. The Investigator came a close second with 18% of the votes.

We described The Born Survivor as one who is self-sufficient, organised and proactive. He/She takes up arms and hits the road. What are some great examples of this kind of character in films we've seen before? Why have the majority of votes gone to this character type? Is it because essentially we want to see the protagonist survive until the end of the film? Or is it more that we enjoy watching someone who is resourceful, skilled and possesses an unwavering "never give up" kind of attitude? Do we wish we could emulate these characters in our own lives?

Thoughts guys? Comment to your heart's content!

A recently release film that's actually quite relevant to all this character type talk is The Cabin in the Woods. Co-written by Joss Whedon (creator of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series) and Drew Goddard (writer of Cloverfield), the film takes the age old tropes of the Hollywood slasher horror genre and brings them to light with tongues firmly pressed in cheeks.

The Cabin in the Woods is based around the idea that horror films are manufactured in a sterile, top secret underground production base which monitors the activity of 'subjects' in situations and is able to tweak the variables here and there in order for the horror to play out perfectly every time. In this particular situation, five teenagers go away to a cabin in the woods (wonder where they got the title from?) for a weekend stay. Much to their terror, the relaxing weekend getaway turns out to be more like something out of a nightmare.

That last part sounds familiar doesn't it? Brings to mind films like Evil Dead, Hellraiser, and Friday the 13th yeah? Well that's the whole point! The film pokes fun at the fact that since they've been around, Hollywood horror films have always had a certain set of tropes or paradigms that appear time and time again and are as predictable as the sun rising in the east. You know the old cliches - the characters are stuck in the middle of nowhere and the bridge is out or they're out of petrol so they can't leave, they explore in the basement/attic in the dark, they read passages in crusty old books written in Latin out aloud, they split up, they decide to get frisky in the outdoors, they tell each other spooky stories of the previous tenants of the house they're staying in for the night. All of these are nice and convenient plot points that set up the events to follow, ie the gradual picking off of the characters one by one as the villain (whatever he or she or it may be) brings about their demise.

Which leads us to the character types. In The Cabin in the Woods, the five key character types in horror films are identified as The Athlete, The Scholar, The Whore, The Fool and The Virgin. The film plays with this idea, having the five teenagers really ham up their designated 'types' but also subvert them as well. For example, the Virgin is not really a virgin, she's just sweet and innocent in nature, The Athlete or Jock type (played by Australian Chris Hemsworth) is sporty and tough but he also has impressive book smarts.

From all our past experience with horror films, these character types are familiar and recognisable to us and we've seen them done so many times that we even know the order in which they are meant to be killed off. The Whore needs to be 'punished' for her lifestyle choices so she always goes first, and The Virgin is always the one to outsmart and defeat the villain, doggedly surviving every obstacle and outliving all her buddies.

Films will forever be populated by character types that are either subtle or obvious, cliched or subversive. Based on our filmic knowledge or experience, they can help locate us within a film's genre and drive a plot forward with their predictable (or unpredictable) actions.

If you were a character type in a horror film, which one would you be and why? Or, looking at the list of character types from our poll, could you slot yourself into one of those categories? Or a few of them?