Rubik's Cube Poster for 'The Cabin in the Woods' (Part I?)

Tagline seems appropriate: "You think you know the story." Well, yes, we do. We've seen this kind of thing so many times, so very many times, we can tick off the plot points before they happen without looking up from our popcorn. As a genre, it's been run pretty ragged. So much so I had, in fact, written off this movie until I saw this poster.

Not bad. Gives me reason to hope this might be more than just another...um...schlock cabin-in-the-woods horror flick.

Here's a detail of the Rubik's Cube motif.

Didn't notice that, did you? (Well, you wouldn't have if I hadn't put 'Rubik's Cube' in the title of the post). That's right. The cabin is separated into sections just like a Rubik's Cube. Just what does that mean?

IMDb has this:

A group of friends at a cabin retreat scratch the surface of something so massive and horrific that they can only begin to fathom it as time quickly runs out.

Could there be a timeline warp element to the plot? Like, in one room you're in a timeline where everything is okay, but in the next room you're in a timeline where you've just murdered your friends with an ax, but (da-da-dummmm!) it was in self-defense because they went crazy just after coming out of another room where some evil entity dwells. Yes!! And the conceit is you have to go through the rooms and deal with the challenges found therein in just the right order, in just the right way, to prevent all hell from breaking loose? Something like that? Hmm? Yes, perhaps.

Seems like exactly the kind of thing you'd expect from Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, who bring us the script and handle the direction. The stuff those guys have dreamt up and/or been involved with... We may indeed be in for a fresh take on this well-trodden plot path through the dark dark hackneyed woods, past the eerie creepy fog-shrouded cliché-ridden lake, into the haauunted glen where...okay I'll stop.

One thing that's already apparent -- "they can only begin to fathom it as time quickly runs out." -- is a not-too-subtle ten-pound hint dropped right on our foot that they're thinking this will be a yearly event. That is, just as our ill-fated protagonists begin to figure out the riddle of Rubik's Cabin, their 90 minutes will be up and we'll have to catch the sequel if we want to see how things develop. So...'The Cabin in the Woods Part 1'?

Nice timing, as 'Saw' and, looks like, 'Scream' have both petered out and 'REC' isn't going anywhere and 'Silent House' isn't franchise material and 'Paranormal Activity' surely can't go on more than, oh, one or two, maybe three, four more movies at most. Yeah -- we need another perennial horror flick and TCitW may be just the ticket. So to speak.

Could be good. (Could be crap, but...) could be good.