Only one new arrival at discount theaters this weekend—but it happens to be one of the most wildly inventive movies that you don’t want to know too much about beforehand. ---

The Cabin in the Woods, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer veterans Joss Whedon (Avengers) and Drew Goddard, starts with the familiar horror-movie premise of a bunch of attractive young people heading out to a remote location. But where it goes from there is a meta-experience too delicious to risk spoiling, a hilariously gruesome tale that both celebrates and upends the most familiar tropes and clichés of the genre. It’s likely to work best for hardcore film junkies—and if you are, the less you know before watching, the better.