The 15 Coolest Cabins In Movies

If you think you know everything there is to know about Hollywood’s old cabin-in-the-woods movie trope, Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods is about to prove you completely wrong. In theaters on April 13 (i.e., today), their groundbreaking horror flick is one of the most unique and surprising films in years, and trust us when we tell you that it’s best to go in spoiler free.

Another fortunate side effect of The Cabin in the Wood’s awesomeness is that it gives us a great excuse to discuss some of the coolest cabins in movie history. And we’re not just talking about creepy horror movie cabins. On our list you’ll find comedies, dramas, and even holiday movies in addition to the expected fright films. So grab a cold one and snuggle up in front of the fire for fifteen of the coolest cabins in movies.

Written by Scott Neumyer (@scottneumyer)

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The thing that makes the cabin in Nicolas Roeg’s 1990 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic novel The Witches so memorable is the fact that it’s the only cabin on this list that isn’t actually a real, physical cabin. Instead, viewers are treated to a cabin that appears to be just a simple painting on Erica’s family’s wall. That is, until we hear the story of her father’s sudden discovery that Erica herself had been locked away inside the cabin in the painting by one of the evil witches.

It’s a surreal moment that makes the gorgeous cabin in the painting all the more haunting. And it’s one of the first clues in the film that reveals the fact that, lurking behind all those normal-looking woman, there are cruel, ugly, demonic witches hell bent on destroying children. Hard to believe The Witches is based on a children’s book, huh?

If it weren’t for the fact that the Wes Craven produced 2006 horror film The Breed is mostly terrible, the cabin in the film would certainly be higher up on our list as it’s one of the largest and most beautiful looking cabins in movie history. Unfortunately, aside from a talented cast consisting of Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Lively, and Taryn Manning, the film is a huge dud. Reminiscent of dogs-gone-wild films like The Pack and Dogs, The Breed treads familiar territory and does it in the most mundane way.

The film does throw in one original twist by making the dogs “genetically enhanced” but it’s not enough to make up for a weak script and sloppy direction. Still, the huge wood cabin is an impressive sight to behold and it earns bonus points for its originality in being on a small island rather than deep in the woods.

Who doesn’t love a good Jim Varney comedy ever once in a while? There’s just something about Ernest P. Worrell’s complete naiveté and huge heart that’s both endearing and endlessly funny. The cabin in Ernest Goes to Camp, however, is far from impressive, but it certainly is memorable.

Soon after Ernest moves from maintenance man to counselor at Kamp Kikakee, he’s handed a small group of delinquent boys from Midstate Boys Detention Center. When the kids are finally shown their cabin, it’s a shock the thing is actually still standing. There are boarded up windows, graffiti on the walls, and mattresses and bed frames strewn about. Chances are the boys probably had better lodging back at their detention center. Of course, the cabin is merely a blip on the screen of this hilarious flick, but it’s one that shows another side of the movie cabin – the truly terrible side.

Based on the novella “Secret Window, Secret Garden” by the legendary Stephen King, David Koepp’s Secret Window tells the story of author Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp) who suffers a psychotic break after catching his wife in bed with another man. Rainey decides to head to a secluded cabin deep in the woods of upstate New York, hoping a little isolation will help cure his writer’s block. And that’s when things get really weird.

Secret Window isn’t a great film by any means, but it is an enjoyable psychological thriller with a lot of room for Johnny Depp to do his thing. That said, the cabin in the film is a beauty – spacious, on the lake, and nestled in a huge swath of trees. It’s the perfect place for a reclusive author to go a little crazy, which is exactly what Mort Rainey does.

Mark Rydell’s 1981 adaptation of Ernest Thompson’s play On Golden Pond is a beautiful, moving, and extremely emotional film. Henry Fonda (in what would be his final film role) went on to win an Academy Award for his portrayal of Norman Thayer and Katherine Hepburn took home gold for her turn as his wife Ethel. The film is an absolute classic and its cabin might just be one of the most well known in cinematic history.

What makes the cabin in On Golden Pond so special isn’t the fact that it’s gorgeously constructed, right on the lake, and tucked away in the woods around Golden Pond. It is all those things, to be sure, but what sets this cabin apart from so many others in movies is the fact that On Golden Pond’s cabin actually feels like another character in the film. The sense of place in the film is so strong that you can’t imagine these characters being anywhere else in the world. Now that’s special.

Oh, Dolly Parton we love you. And not just for your ageless beauty, to-die-for figure, and sweet pipes. We love you because you made cult classics like the 1986 TV movie A Smoky Mountain Christmas. Directed by Henry Winkler (the Fonz!) and starring Parton (as a country music superstar, of course) and Lee Majors, the film is as heartwarming as it is cheesy, which has made it a holiday tradition (at least in this house).

The cabin here is the most perfect kind of cabin – totally secluded in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains, architecturally interesting, and covered in white fluffy snow. It’s the kind of cabin you see in paintings, and it’s the kind of cabin that makes you want to snuggle up in front of its fire with a nice cup of hot cocoa. Then again, we’ll take any excuse to snuggle up to Dolly Parton.

Everything about Eli Craig’s hilarious 2010 horror-comedy Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is designed to turn the cabin-in-the-woods subgenre upside down. Played to perfection by Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine, Tucker and Dale are just two hillbillies who mean no harm and just want to enjoy their new vacation home – an absolute trash heap of a cabin in the woods.

The cabin itself is falling apart, probably not even structurally sound, and looks like an absolute abomination. Yet, Tucker and Dale feel like they were just handed the keys to a mansion in Beverly Hills. Soon mistaken for bloodthirsty mutant hicks, the guys are put through the wringer by a group of college students looking for a good time camping in West Virginia. It’s a harrowing experience for the well-meaning duo that just want to enjoy their new cabin, but at least they get to do it in their dream home!

The lakeside cabin in John M. Stahl’s 1945 film noir (in Technicolor, no less!) is easily one of the most beautiful cabins on this entire list. A beautiful wood structure right on the lake in Maine, it has a huge outdoor deck, plenty of room for friends and family, and it’s tucked right into the wooded countryside. It’s the kind of picture postcard version of a cabin you might dream about.

Only, this cabin resides in a twisted little film noir with a femme fatale that leaves a whole lot of heartbreak and despair in her wake. That said, Leave Her To Heaven is deliciously fun cinema that was both a box office success and a critical darling. Starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, and Vincent Price, it’s a true classic of American film and one that provides a great backdrop for a stunning movie cabin.

I might be taking a little journalistic liberty here by calling Elizabeth Lane’s (Barbara Stanwyck) Connecticut farmhouse a cabin, but I’m standing by it. In my mind (and in the hearts of many a fellow cinephile), Ms. Lane’s snow-covered place deep in rural Connecticut is an absolutely gorgeous cabin where a harried and magical Christmas is spent fooling just about everyone in sight.

Peter Godfrey’s 1945 film might not be one of the Christmas films families reach for right away every holiday season, but it’s easily one of the best and most fun Christmas movies around. Barbara Stanwyck and Dennis Morgan are pitch perfect and the setting couldn’t be more picturesque. Just remind yourself that it’s a cabin and enjoy the moment when snow falls off the roof and blankets the film’s stars in fluffy white goodness.

Let’s get one thing straight: Director Eli Roth is a horror film buff. He knows horror movies like Quentin Tarantino knows Grindhouse movies. So to say that the cabin we see in his 2002 breakout film Cabin Fever isn’t an homage to films like Evil Dead would be crazy. Yes, absolutely, there’s a ton of Sam Raimi influence in the cabin, wooded location, and the film itself. But, you know what? We’re totally cool with that.

Cabin Fever is unique and original enough in its concept and story that we’ll forgive any lifting from the masters that Roth may have had to do. Here we see a cabin that’s slightly beaten up and mostly nondescript. It’s the perfect place to bad stuff to happen to naïve young people. And boy, oh, boy does bad stuff happen to these kids. Yikes. Let’s just hope that whomever heads into this cabin next decides to do a very thorough cleaning.

Sean Cunningham’s 1980 classic Friday the 13th is the film that helped create and further a genre. If Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left truly created the slasher film and John Carpenter’s Halloween popularized it, then Friday the 13th simply turned it into a franchise event. Finally, horror fans would have a chance to see poor kids at summer camp getting sadistically murdered year after year.

Now, if you don’t already know what cabins we’re talking about here, you need to go find a copy of the film and watch it again. The cabins in Friday the 13th are really nothing special. They’re your typical summer camp cabins, lined up throughout the woods, making up Camp Crystal Lake. What makes the cabins in the film so memorable, however, are the deaths that occur within them. Sex-crazed teens meet their demise in various torturous ways and, most importantly, Kevin Bacon takes an arrow straight through the throat. We call that six degrees of awesome.

John Hughes may not have directed The Great Outdoors, but he did write and produce the film, and it has his genius fingerprints all over it. One of the greatest (if not the greatest) wilderness comedies of all time, the film stars John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Annette Bening, and Stephanie Faracy in roles that would be remembered forever. Lovable Chet Ripley (Candy) and his douchebag brother-in-law Roman Craig (Aykroyd) duking it out and one-upping each other for alpha male status is comedy gold.

And a great comedy like The Great Outdoors deserves a great cabin in the woods as well, no? Well, there’s nothing to worry about there as this cabin (although we never see the full cabin in all its glory) is secluded enough for adequate privacy, spacious enough to fit both families, and even overlooks the gorgeous lake there in Pechoggin, Wisconsin. The only downfalls? Pesky raccoons, a stubborn bat, and one really pissed off bear.

Sam Raimi’s 1981 horror classic The Evil Dead contains, hands down, the most iconic and recognizable cabin in cinematic history. Ask someone you know to name the first cabin in the woods from a movie that they can think of and, I guarantee you, nine times out of ten they will say The Evil Dead. It’s that ubiquitous in pop culture.

The funny thing about the cabin in The Evil Dead is that it’s nothing special to look at. The windows are boarded up, it’s tiny, and it looks like it’s about to fall over. But it’s not the cabin itself that everyone remembers. No, no. What everyone remembers about The Evil Dead is what’s inside the cabin. A crazed Bruce Campbell, demonic possessions, evil incarnate, and that oh-so-iconic fictional Sumerian text The Book of the Dead. Sam Raimi’s debut feature film gets so many things right that all the little flaws that come with truly independent filmmaking just seem to melt away. What’s most impressive, however, is that Raimi performed that magic again (and, arguably, even more impressively) when he returned to that very same cabin in Evil Dead II. We may not ever want to stay there, but that’s one hell of an awesome cabin.