It’s a classic set up: You put a group of people inside a remote cabin and place something nefarious just outside — at least at first — that puts the occupants in grave danger. Writer/Director M. Night Shyamalan uses that basic scenario as a springboard for his intense new film, Knock at the Cabin, in which Eric (Jonathan Groff), Andrew (Ben Aldridge), and their young daughter, Wen (Kristen Cui), find themselves taken prisoner by an ominous group of four, led by the hulking Leonard (Dave Bautista).
Why is a cabin in the woods the ideal setting for a movie of this sort? We asked both Shyamalan and the community at Fandom’s Horror Film Wiki that question, as Shyamalan also spoke about how his movie blends a terrifying personal threat with something apocalyptic and why Bautista was the perfect actor to play Leonard.
ALL BY YOURSELF
Knock at the Cabin begins with Eric, Andrew, and Wen having recently arrived at the cabin for a relaxing excursion. In general, M. Night Shyamalan said he felt, “The idea of being isolated from society, the kind of urge that we have when we go on vacation to get away from it all, is a perfect setup for something terrible to happen, because you now don’t have any way to reach anybody. The cabin idea, it feels very vulnerable, so it’s a perfect kind of setup for a dark genre.”
“Cabins give the feeling of being secluded from civilization and safety.” – AxelWolf45 at Fandom’s Horror Film Wiki
Asked if he had any other creepy cabin movies in mind as particular favorites before making Knock at the Cabin, Shyamalan noted that he more generally thought about other stories in similar scenarios, even if they weren’t exactly the same. Said Shyamalan, “The weren’t cabins necessarily, but Night of the Living Dead, it’s this house that they end up in and so it has that feeling to me. And even The Birds, where they end up in, again, an isolated house, [even if] it’s not in the woods or anything like that.”
“By staying in a cabin, you’re giving up conveniences and securities you would find in everyday society. Cabins are also typically surrounded by dense forests or woodlands, where any creature—or nightmare—could exist. The cabin is a classic setting where anything could happen, and anything is possible.” – DawnieDoodles at Fandom’s Horror Film Wiki
As the story begins in Knock at the Cabin, Wen is outside, playing by herself, when the larger than life Leonard first approaches, speaking to her in a calm and friendly manner, allowing Shymalan to evoke another primal type of story – through one that itself can also go into dark territory.
Explained Shyamalan, “I think in this case, the cabin in the woods have a feeling of almost like a fairy tale quality to it. That’s how I felt about the movie and how Leonard and Wen feel at the beginning. We’re at the beginning of a fairy tale.”
TWO VERY DIFFERENT THREATS
As the Knock at the Cabin trailers convey, Leonard and his companions Sabrina (Nikki Amuka-Bird), Adriane (Abby Quinn), and Redmond (Rupert Grint) declare that they believe the true apocalypse is coming to Earth which will only be averted if one of the family in this cabin allows themselves to be sacrificed by the others.
Eric, Andrew, and Wen must contend with being given this horrific choice to make and pondering the consequences if they don’t abide by it – and whether that would be something terrible happening to them at the hands of the foursome who have taken them captive or if there is any chance Leonard and his crew could be telling the truth.
“Cabins are isolated, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by nature, which we don’t fully know or understand. Also cabins are rarely one’s main residence, so it’s never a ‘known territory’ for the characters.” – Jtnscatty023 at Fandom’s Horror Film Wiki
The film is based on the book The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay and regarding this interesting blend of what is essentially a home invasion story with something as massive as a possible worldwide apocalypse, Shyamalan observed, “I think it’s such a wonderful juxtaposition of those two genres. Because, if you really think about the structure of those two genres, if they’re overlapping, they’re going to cause a flip a little bit, because the protagonist and antagonist switch in the two genres as you touch them together. So it’s a really fascinating exercise of screenplay format. I love both genres a lot. They are kind of two primal fears put together.”
MEANT FOR DAVE
Knock at the Cabin is the next step in an increasingly impressive acting career for Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy, Blade Runner 2049, Glass Onion), who is finding roles unlike those you’d expect for a former WWE wrestler, thanks to the innate thoughtfulness he exudes – wrapped inside that giant body, of course.
“[You’re] not around people where you can get help.” – Deathsign2039 at Fandom’s Horror Film Wiki
When it came to casting Bautista, Shyamalan recalled that when he first read an earlier version of the Knock at the Cabin script by Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman (Shyamalan would then rewrite it himself), “It was almost like they knew who Dave was and [then] they wrote Leonard. It was weird! He’s like this giant that’s very vulnerable, very caring. He’s worried he’s gonna say the wrong thing. He has that quality about him and Leonard has that quality. And yet he has this dogma, a belief system, that he lives his life by. And so Dave and Leonard are very, very in sync in that.”
Added Shyamalan, “Finding the right actor at the right time is the beautiful part. Dave was just at the perfect place in his life for me to make this ask of him. ‘Would you come and do this character that has endless pages of monologues, but you’re gonna have to risk everything? You’re gonna go past your comfort zone on this.’”
Fortunately, Shyamalan noted, Bautista was more than up for the challenge.
Knock at the Cabin opens February 3.
