The Cabin in the Woods Beastiary Part 3 – The Wraith
Steve Barton
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The clock is ticking toward the September 18th release date of Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods. It won’t be long before we’re enjoying all the sharp comedy, witty dialogue and brutal monsters we fell in love with when the film had its theatrical run.
We’ve got another group of monsters to highlight for you today: the underrated band of supernatural beasties known as the wraiths.
Related Story: The Cabin in the Woods Beastiary Part 1 – The Werewolf
Related Story: The Cabin in the Woods Beastiary Part 2 – The Zombie
Unlike their usually silent and unseen ghostly brethren, the nightmarish wraiths often make a habit of getting right in your face and shrieking in your ear. Not cool. The term “wraith” is Scottish in origin, meaning “guardian,” and the specters themselves are sometimes seen as disembodied spirits. The legend of the wraith claims that they can transform humans into beasts like themselves by sucking out their souls. So not cool!
Part of the fearsomeness of the wraith is its mysterious nature. We really don’t know that much about them, aside from the swooping, the shrieking and being generally difficult to get along with. They can be shrouded, death-like figures, similar to the Dementors in the Harry Potter stories, or more spectral. Whatever their appearance, it’s best you keep a good eye on your soul because they will look to suck it right out of you.
Other legends say a wraith is a soul that has been reanimated to do some dastardly bidding. That would explain the hood. No spirit wants to get recognized when kvetching around doing someone else’s dirty work. Might explain the shrieks as well.
Although wraith sightings are not extremely numerous in The Cabin in the Woods (Blu-ray / DVD review), they do make their presence known with a couple of key shots. Wraith attacks are more about quality than quantity anyway. You’ll have to keep a sharp eye out, but they’re in there. See if you can pick out a wraith or two when you get your copy of The Cabin in the Woods on September 18th.
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