The Cabin in the Woods

"The Cabin in the Woods," the movie that everyone loved but was afraid to talk about, hits Blu-ray and DVD today, and to celebrate, we spoke with the director, Drew Goddard, about his experiences making the meta horror movie and the battle to get it into theaters.

Goddard shared how he looks back on the film nearly half a year after its theatrical release and what he plans for the near future. We also learned which Boyz II Men song he prefers.

Check out the full Q&A with Goddard after the jump!

As a personal question, does the monster named "Kevin" actually appear in the film? You are not the first person to ask about Kevin, and I never answer. I just say, "He’s in the movie, and if you look for him, you’ll find him."

With so many monsters and so much freedom, were you able to fit everything in that you wanted?

We get everything that was important to us in the picture. Obviously, with a concept like "Cabin," I could do ten more hours of creatures, but we just felt like at a certain point, we didn’t want this movie to be three hours long. It felt like the right amount of creatures. At a certain point, you have to make some hard decisions, but I can honestly say every creature that was important to me is on the screen.

Did that require limiting yourself?

Not really, maybe we did, because the truth is I don’t think we really thought that this movie was going to get made. It was more like we were robbing a bank, and it was like, "Let’s just get as many monsters as we can before anyone realizes what the hell we’re doing and try to get them on screen." It always had that feeling, that guerrilla filmmaking feel. We didn’t think too hard about it. It was like a sprint, and we just took off.

The world you and Joss created is enormous. Do you still wonder what else there in it?

It’s certainly something that we thought of constantly and continue to think about because it’s a fun world. We just like this universe. It does open your imagination up to all sorts of other possibilities. I always say when people ask about doing another one, the answer is I would love to return to it if we could figure out a way that will not step on what we already did.

How was it recording the commentary track for the Blu-ray?

I don’t know. To be honest, I don’t really remember because we—as you’ll hear in the commentary—Joss and I just started drinking, and it gets a little blurry. I’ve been, quite honestly, a little too mortified to go back and listen to it to make sure at a certain point it’s just me crying and singing Boyz II Men songs, as I often do when I get drunk.

Do you have a personal favorite?

Why did I choose Boyz II Men? Now that’s going to haunt me. I guess "End of the Road." Doesn’t everyone love "End of the Road"?

What is it like looking back on "Cabin" five months after its release?

It’s been really satisfying seeing "Cabin" get the response that it got. It always felt like because we had to go through the bankruptcy at MGM, we did feel we were off in the corner and no one was paying attention to us. To see it get its day in the sun was incredibly satisfying because we’re really proud of this movie, and it was fun to finally share it with an audience.

Were you surprised when audiences encouraged secret keeping?

I guess that was the most satisfying part. I feel like the internet and geek culture in general get such a bad rap for being spoilery, for being like, "Oh, let’s find out these secrets and spoil everything." I was nice to see the opposite happen with "Cabin," where, if anything, people protected us and really did our work for us, because I’ve learned in my career that I can’t win that fight. If people want to spoil something, they’re going to. It was nice to see this army of like-minded people protect us. That was unexpected and wonderful.

What was important for you to include on the Blu-ray release?

I felt like the making of this movie was a unique experience. Every day on set was different. Every day was fun and ridiculous. We definitely had cameras filming so people could see how we made this movie and how crazy it was. The experience of making the movie was almost as crazy as the experience of watching the movie. We wanted people to get that feeling and see how this movie came to be because we were aware that we were doing something different and weird at the time.

What role will directing play in your future?

I’ve learned that you never really know. I’ve been planning on writing my next project. I’m working on that now, but in the meantime, if something more interesting comes along, I’m always open to that too. You never really know in this business, and I learned if you think too much about it, it gets me into trouble, so I just go with whatever sounds fun.

Is what you’re writing super, super secret?

It is indeed! It is indeed!

What lesson from "Cabin" are you taking to your next directing gig?

The thing I took, the difference between directing and writing, is with directing, you’re on a project for a really long time. Even before the delay, "Cabin" took three years of my life, between writing and directing the movie, so you just better love it. That’s the thing for me at least. If you’re going to spend three years of your life working on something, you better love what it is that you’re doing. I can honestly say that was true of "Cabin," and I’m not eager to jump in and direct something that I don’t love. I think that’s the true lesson there.