The Cabin in the Woods is a great parody of slasher movies, but many viewers don't know that it is secretly a horror video game spin-off. Despite The Cabin in the Woods seeming like a stand along movie, it actually has a deep connection to one popular zombie game. Although plans for further connections between the two were scrapped, The Cabin in the Woods was almost part of something much bigger.
Drew Goddard's 2011 film The Cabin in the Woods has become a modern horror classic, with it parodying many of the horror tropes and conventions that are often seen with the genre. The film follows a group of teenagers visiting a remote cabin that unknowingly become the subjects of an experiment in which various horror monsters are unleashed upon them. The Cabin in the Woods contains references to all kinds of horror movies, but one reference to a video game was originally meant to be more than just an Easter egg.
The Cabin In The Woods Is Part Of The Left 4 Dead Universe
As it turns out, The Cabin in the Woods is actually part of the Left 4 Dead universe. Left 4 Dead is a zombie shooter series that started in 2008, and although most of the ties were eventually severed, it was meant to be set in the same universe as The Cabin in the Woods. According to Polygon, 2009's Left 4 Dead 2 was originally supposed to have The Cabin in the Woods DLC featuring the cabin and the underground facility as playable locations.
The connections between Left 4 Dead and The Cabin in the Woods aren't just one way, though, as some elements of Left 4 Dead made it into the movie. Among the monster-filled cubes, several creatures from the Left 4 Dead series can be seen, including the Witch, Boomer, Hunter, Charger, Tank, and Smoker. The connections to Left 4 Dead were deeply engrained into the DNA of Cabin in the Woods, but the DLC sadly never happened.
Why Left 4 Dead's Official Cabin In The Woods Crossover Never Happened
Left 4 Dead's official video game crossover with The Cabin in the Woods never happened for one key reason: money. Negotiations for the DLC were going on before the movie came out in 2011, which was a pretty unfortunate time to be doing so. This is because MGM, the studio behind The Cabin in the Woods, filed for bankruptcy in 2010.
Due to the bankruptcy, the Left 4 Dead crossover was scrapped. Things were almost much worse, as MGM even shelved The Cabin in the Woods entirely. Luckily, Lionsgate picked up distribution rights for the film and released it a year later in 2011. Sadly, the Left 4 Dead crossover with The Cabin in the Woods never saw the light of day, with it being a victim of MGM's bankruptcy.
Source: Polygon
