Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we will be reviewing Tubi Original, Social Media Influencer themed, paranormal mystery horror Cabin Girl from 2023. This movie kinda falls into my Horror on Tubi feature but you can expect more from that in the future as I am definitely not done.
Cabin Girl focuses on the story of a popular social media Van life influencer switching her home on the road for a cabin in the woods. After being involved in an accident in her van, Ava Robbins decides to finally fulfill a lifelong dream of purchasing and renovating a solitary rural cabin. It isn’t long before she begins seeing strange things. Unsure of whether the visions are a result of her accident or something more sinister. She sets out on a journey to investigate the history of the house and its former residents. Uncovering a truth that she could never possibly have imagined.
A Different Approach to Social Media Horror
Most social media influencer themed horror movies don’t tend to take themselves tremendously seriously. Understanding the nature of social media and the personalities that inhabit it, many of these horror films take a lighter approach. Keen to focus on the presentation of the influencer as an exaggerated version of a normal person placed into an extraordinary situation while still attempting to entertain their online audience. Deadstream and Sissy are really good examples of this.
Cabin Girl is a little bit different, it feels a little more grounded with director Jon D. Wagner, instead, presenting Ava as a fairly normal person who just so happens to be an influencer. The actual social media element takes something of a back seat with the focus placed more on the prevailing mystery of the house and the questions surrounding Ava’s recent accident. Sure, we occasionally see Ava live stream and we see a few videos from fans spliced in every now and then. But, other than that, the whole social media stuff is fairly inconsequential.
Just a Decently Watchable Horror
Whether this is a good thing or not is up to the viewer. Whereas I am more used to social media playing a pivotal role in these movies, it’s far more of a gimmick here than anything else. Referenced occasionally but, ultimately, inconsequential. This does raise a few questions, though. For one, why include it at all? Just to make the movie feel more current? I am not sure but I can see people feeling a bit of fatigue when it comes to this theme. On the plus side, although the movie hints at it for a few minutes at the start, the vast majority of Cabin Girl is filmed traditionally. With only a few vlogs and limited use of a Found Footage style. Good news for people who are not fans of the format.
There is a strong paranormal element at the heart of Cabin Girl. With Ava repeatedly seeing the spirit of a deceased girl. For the most part, it plays out in a very familiar manner with a mix of red herrings and things seen out of the corner of eyes quickly transforming into full on sightings, Ouija boards, and other super common paranormal horror tropes. There isn’t anything new here but there is, perhaps, more than meets the eye.
Ava’s investigations into the history of the house begin to uncover something sinister. Something which quickly evolves into a much greater mystery seemingly involving the entire town. It’s slow moving but there are enough twists and turns to keep things interesting. With everything, ultimately, coming together in something of a hectic twist ending that is fairly enjoyable.
A Potentially Divisive End
It’s all pretty familiar stuff but Cabin Girl really does enough to stay interesting. The ending does manage to ramp up the thrills a fair bit but makes for a bit of a divisive conclusion to the story. Everyone enjoys a good twist, right? Well this one might split the audience down the middle. There is a slight feeling of the script being torn up with the ending dismissing much of the lead up for the sake of a “Gotcha” moment that might not quite land with everyone.
It’s always a risk going for the big twist reveal. Some movies stand out for theirs while others, like The Village for example, become notorious for all the wrong reasons. I wouldn’t put Cabin Girl on the level of M. Night Shyamalan’s trademark bull shittery but it may piss a few people off. My fiancee and I predicted it fairly early, aresult of watching thousands of horror movies, but it should still prove a surprise for some. I, personally, think it works quite well, managing to open up the story and afford a bit of personality to characters previously completely lacking in personality.
Not Particularly Scary
There aren’t a great deal of moments here likely to shock or scare. Cabin Girl does go for a few jump scares but nothing too ridiculous. It mainly tries to unsettle which it does have some success with. One particularly graphic scene towards the end does deserve mention for how gnarly it is. But, overall, it’s all just quite familiar. Wagner takes few risks, relying more on the movie’s later revelations than scares to keep the viewer onboard. Sometimes this is really all you need to keep engagement and keep the viewer off base just that little bit.
Cabin Girl deserves praise for its direction. Wagner has managed to put together a nice looking picture. Cabin Girl looks distinctly better than many of its Tubi Original siblings. Matt Irwin’s cinematography is razor sharp with some genuinely great shots and a crystal clear image throughout. Lighting is decent with few dimly lit nighttime scenes, daytime scenes positively glow. It’s a great looking movie. The only parts that deserve some criticism are the Vlog style scenes. A terrible audio filter has been used which makes characters sound like they have strong speech impediments. The camera quality is terrible in these scenes, as well. Seemingly ignoring the fact that everyone and their dog is filming in 4K on YouTube nowadays.
Acting is Pretty Good
Rose Sanfilippo is pretty decent as Ava. She lacks some of that oh so important pep that so many influencers seem to have. It would have benefited her to research some of the more well known social media personalities. Perhaps taking something from each to create a character that we could believe would garner an online following. But she comes along nicely toward the end of the movie. Sanfilippo manages to adapt her acting to convey the change in Ava’s personality extremely organically. It feels natural and will force the viewer to react to her in much the same way as characters in the movie do. Great job!
I really enjoyed seeing Jess Weixler again. She played Dawn in the utterly whacky horror movie Teeth, she is great here as local bar manager Trina. Feeling completely natural and believable. Austin Scott is fine as local mechanic Kellen. His performance is, perhaps, best described as generic with him never being asked to do much of anything. He does okay with what he is asked to do, though. Everyone else is okay. Nobody really stands out but there isn’t anyone that is particularly bad so that’s a good thing.
Should You Watch Cabin Girl?
Cabin Girl is one of those middle of the road horror movies that is definitely worth a watch if you are just looking for some light horror thrills. It’s completely watchable, looks decent and is well acted but it just doesn’t do anything particularly new. There aren’t many scares and the characters aren’t particularly compelling but there is plenty here to keep most viewers engaged and having a good time. The twist ending will likely divide and some may find themselves put off by the social media element but, for the most part, it is definitely worth a watch.