This unofficial Cabin in the Woods poster by graphic designer Maria Kaner has a classic appearance as a throwback to older horror movie posters.  The largest image on the poster is one of Fran Kranz as Marty holding the makeshift weapon he has made out of his mug/pipe.  Marty is the most comedic character in the film, being the stoner who is closest to seeing the manipulations of the underground workers.  The background of the poster is a blood red color which suggests the horror aspect of the film.  However, several ironic taglines are written at the top, suggesting the more comedic twists on the genre that Cabin has.  The tagline on top is “you think you know the story,” which implies that the familiarity of the situation will be made unfamiliar, and the taglines below it, such as “if an old man warns you not to go there… make fun of him,” indicate a self-awareness of the conventions of the horror genre.  Finally, at the bottom of the image, the characters Hadley and Sitterson are shown at their computer setup, watching the group of friends at the cabin.  This part of the image reveals the voyeuristic aspect of Cabin that is shown in the film through the many monitors of the underground complex that are used to watch the group above.  Compared to the official poster for the film, this poster gives a much more accurate impression of what the film is like.  The official poster simply shows a Rubik’s cube-esque cabin on a murky white woods background with the lone tagline, “you think you know the story.”  Kaner’s poster reveals more about mix of horror and comedy in the film and also gives some idea of the characters and situation of the story.

Kaner poster: http://www.repostered.com/posters/003925/The-Cabin-in-the-Woods

Official poster: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b8/CitwTeaserSmall.jpg