Rave reviews for Anna Hutchison's horror flick (+trailer)

Anna Hutchison in a scene from Cabin in the Woods. Photo / Supplied

A new horror film starring former Shortland Street actress Anna Hutchison is receiving rave reviews, with critics saying it has reinvigorated a flagging genre.

Cabin in the Woods, directed by Drew Goddard and co-written by Joss Whedon, has received a whopping 95 per cent approval rating on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes.

Only a handful of horror films have a better rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Let the Right One in at 98 per cent, and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho at 99 per cent.

Originally slated for release in 2010, the film went into limbo after studio MGM went bankrupt and is only just now being released in America.

It follows a group of young students on a weekend getaway when things go horribly wrong. Hutchison, who has starred in TV shows Go Girls and Underbelly, plays Jules Louden, one of the teens.

Reviewers have heaped overwhelming praise on the film, with Film.com's Eric D Snider calling it "deliriously satisfying".

"The idea is to set up a movie we've seen a hundred times before, and then to rearrange it into something new and deliriously satisfying," he said, giving the film an 'A' grade.

"What a fun, brilliant movie this is."

Digital Spy's Simon Reynolds continued the compliments: "Cabin in the Woods is witty, scary and incredibly inventive. This is a must-see genre-bending horror movie - miss it at your peril."

Variety's Peter Debruge said it subverted horror expectations in a style similar to Scream, and called it "a sly, self-conscious twist on one of slasher films' ugliest stepchildren: the coed campsite massacre".

HitFix's Drew McWeeny said Cabin in the Woods made up for years of terrible horror films.

"(It's) not just a great horror film, but also a thesis on why we need horror films and what role they serve in our diet."

Only one reviewer has given it a negative rating, with The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney giving it two-and-a-half stars out of five.

A New Zealand release date for Cabin in the Woods hasn't yet been set.

Check out the trailer for Cabin in the Woods:

- Herald online