Got A Twisted Sense Of Humor? Try These Movies Like ‘Cabin In The Woods’

Nothing good ever happens when young, attractive people rent a house in the woods together, amirite? That’s the premise of the 2012 horror movie The Cabin in the Woods, although there is a lot more to it than that. Starring Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, and Jesse Williams, the film follows a group of friends who go on vacation to a remote cabin only to be met by bloodthirsty undead out to get them. But the plot thickens, because the always exceptional Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins star as engineers in a secret underground laboratory playing puppet-masters of the zombie takeover. Suffice it to say that there are few movies like Cabin in the Woods out there — but others do exist, and we dug ’em up for you.

In case you were curious, the whole premise of Cabin in the Woods is overly trope-y by design — it was created to be a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the horror genre (even as it scares the heck out of you). Roger Ebert summed it up perfectly, writing, “This is not a perfect movie; it’s so ragged, it’s practically constructed of loose ends. But it’s exciting because it ventures so far off the map. One imagines the filmmakers chortling with glee as they devise first one bizarre development and then another in a free-for-all for their imaginations. They establish rules only to violate them.”

If that sounds like your sort of fun, try these movies like Cabin in the Woods to get your dark humor horror fix on.

Dark Humor Horror Movies Like Cabin in the Woods

1. Slither (2006)

Much like Cabin in the Woods, Slither starts off innocently enough — in a small South Carolina town where a woman named Starla (Elizabeth Banks) yearns to put the spark back into her marriage to Grant Grant (Michael Rooker). Before you know it, though, mutilated livestock turns up. Pets, followed by people, start to go missing. We don’t want to spoil it for you, but let’s just say a sentient extraterrestrial parasite makes for a twist as hilarious as it is effective.

2. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)

Here’s another gem involving a cabin in the woods, albeit surrounded by a very different set of circumstances. In this film, scruffy buddies Tucker and Dale only want to renovate the rundown lakefront vacation hideaway in West Virginia they just bought. Unfortunately, some wayfaring college students mistake them for homicidal hillbillies — and a hapless string of accidents convinces the clueless kids they’re right. You get plenty of blood and guts with this one, but you get a lot of heart too.

3. You Might Be the Killer (2018)

This spoof horror movie starring Alyson Hannigan is for everyone who spotted all of the horror movie stereotypes in Cabin in the Woods before getting into the whole plot. In the movie, a camp counselor wakes up to a slew of murder victims but doesn’t remember a thing — so he calls his horror-flick-enthusiast friend to help him figure it out. Hilarity and horror ensue!

4. Death Becomes Her (1992)

If by some chance you haven’t seen this ’90s cult classic yet, get thee to a TV right this second. Dark humor at its finest, Death Becomes Her follows narcissistic actress Madeline Ashton and her best “frenemy,” novelist Helen Sharp, as they fight each other — and the natural aging process through a mysterious drug that promises immortality. There’s backstabbing, revenge, intrigue, comedy; this film’s got it all! And it stars Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, and Bruce Willis, so you know it’s good.

5. Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Dawn of the Dead starts in such a stark, terrifying way that you’d never expect it would turn into a film that’s actually pretty damn funny in parts. A clever take on the whole zombie apocalypse genre, the film takes a look at what life becomes once the initial shock of an undead plague inevitably wears off and the mundanity of every day creeps back into the picture. In this case, that includes a nurse named Ana (Sarah Polley) and a group of survivors holing up in the local shopping mall. They band together to fend off the undead hordes, sure, but they also sneak in a few laughs.

More Movies Like Cabin in the Woods to Cue Up

1. Zombieland (2009)
2. Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)
3. Love and Monsters (2020)
4. It (2017)
5. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
6. The Visit (2015)
7. Braindead (1992)
8. Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
9. Daybreak (2019)
10. Four Rooms (1995)
11. Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse (2015)
12. Heathers (1988)
13. Planet Terror (2007)
14. Dog House (2009)
15. Killer Clowns From Outer Space (1988)
16. The Faculty (1998)
17. Freaks of Nature (2015)
18. Warm Bodies (2013)
19. Truth or Dare (2018)
20. Teeth (2007)
21. Black Sheep (2006)
22. Dead Snow (2009)