Opening Night in the 'Woods' at SXSW 2012

A capacity crowd waited hours in the rain on Friday for the SXSW 2012 opening-night film, The Cabin in the Woods. This waterlogged crowd soon found out that the wait was definitely worth it. The evening's festivities began with an introduction of the movie by director and co-writer Drew Goddard and producer and co-writer Joss Whedon. The house lights were lowered and 90 minutes of sweet joy were unspooled before a capacity crowd of 1200 at the Paramount Theatre. 

After voraciously devouring this delectable meal of a movie, we were re-greeted by Whedon and Goddard, who quickly brought out four members of the film's cast: Bradley Whitford, Richard Jenkins, Kristen Connolly and Anna Hutchison. The Q&A was a riot with Whitford and Jenkins providing tons of laughs. You can tell these two gentlemen had a great time working on this film. 

Here's a shot of Goddard from the Q&A:

The Cabin in the Woods Q&A also highlighted details about how this movie was made and what life was like on the set. The most interesting thing to me was how quickly the script was written. Whedon and Goddard checked into a hotel and cranked out 15 pages a day. In three days, The Cabin in the Woods was gestated. Along with details about how the film originated, we also learned about life on the set. 

The actresses let us know that the cabin's basement was as creepy in real life as in the movie. I would go into more details of the Q&A, but it would be too spoiler-ific if I did.

I can say one thing. During the Q&A we came to an agreement: At Whedon's request, the audience agreed to simply describe the movie as a "timeless Classic" ... which it is. The Cabin in the Woods is 99.44 percent pure horror goodness. 

P.S.: Here's some advice. Stay away from the trailer, which is spoiler-heavy, and just go see this movie. I'll do a more detailed yet appropriately vague review when The Cabin in the Woods is released in theaters on April 13.

[Photo credit: All photos by Dinkins / De Jong. All rights reserved, used with permission (many thanks!).]