<P> Goddard and Whedon, having worked together previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, wrote the screenplay in three days, describing it as an attempt to "revitalize" the slasher film genre and as a critical satire on torture porn . The special effects, monster costumes, special makeup, and prosthetic makeup for the movie were done by veteran horror film actress Heather Langenkamp, her husband David LeRoy Anderson, and their company AFX Studio . Filming took place in Vancouver, British Columbia from March to May 2009 on an estimated budget of $30 million . </P> <P> The film was originally slated for release on February 5, 2010 by Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer and United Artists, but was indefinitely shelved due to ongoing financial difficulties . In 2011, Lionsgate picked up the distribution rights . The film premiered on March 9, 2012 at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas and was released in the United States on April 13, 2012, grossing over $66 million worldwide . </P> <P> In a high tech underground facility, senior technicians Sitterson and Hadley discuss plans for a mysterious operation . A similar operation undertaken by their counterparts in Stockholm has just ended in failure . </P> <P> Elsewhere, American college students Dana, Holden, Marty, Jules, and Curt are spending their weekend at a seemingly deserted cabin in the forest, a cabin recently acquired by Curt's cousin . From their underground facility where they possess significant technological control over the area in which the cabin is situated, Sitterson and Hadley manipulate the students by intoxicating them with mind - altering drugs that hinder rational thinking and increase libido . They take bets from coworkers as to what kind of monster will attack the students and discuss the failures of similar rituals in other nations . </P>

Where does cabin in the woods take place