PHOTO PROVIDED The cast of “The Cabin in the Woods” are pictured at the beginning of the film.

It’s been years since I last watched this movie, but when I was scrolling through Peacock (thanks, Laura!) for some background noise this weekend I saw “The Cabin in the Woods” and thought it would be fun to give it another watch.

It was definitely better than what I remembered, which was a nice surprise.

The cast is full of incredible actors and actresses including Kristen Connolly as Dana Polk, Chris Hemsworth as Curt Vaughan, Anna Hutchison as Jules Louden, Fran Kranz as Marty, Jesse Williams as Holden McCrea, Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford as office workers Gary Sitterson and Steve Hadley respectively.

Released in April 2012, “The Cabin in the Woods” was Drew Goddard’s directorial debut. He co-wrote the film with Joss Whedon; the pair previously worked together on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

The film was a huge success, receiving generally positive reviews from critics and grossing $66.5 million worldwide.

Right from the get-go “The Cabin in the Woods” has an incredible premise. Having a whole underground society specifically charged with keeping a group of subterranean deities known as the “Ancient Ones” entertained through ritualistic sacrifice? Immediate favorite.

The storyline is campy in the best way. Outside of the whole ritualistic sacrifice by an underground society, it follows a standard slasher premise of “group of college kids goes to remote cabin in the woods; death ensues.”

The twist of the underground technicians shifting things in their favor and the concept of the college kids actually picking their demise? Crazy. Loved it.

There’s a classic “truth or dare” scene in which the characters get up to the typical college student antics. But the lighthearted fun takes a dramatic left turn as the technicians underground make the door to the cellar pop open. The group goes down to investigate and finds a bunch of spooky-looking objects — each one tied to a different creature that will end up being their demise.

Dana reads from the diary of a girl named “Patience Buckner” and summons the zombified family.

While the college students are stuck in a horror film, in the underground lab everyone is just having a normal Friday in an office comedy movie! They’re betting on what monster would kill the students, and later in the film celebrate with an office party. The clear flip-flopping between the two genres is a very nice touch.

The stoner character, Marty, is such a refreshing take on the stoner aesthetic. Like most depictions of stoner characters, Marty is paranoid and over the top. But on top of his silly actions, he’s right.

Very early on in the film he has some stereotypical “government bad, we’re being watched” comments, but as they get to the cabin his ramblings become more and more pointed. He is the one to discover hidden surveillance equipment and uncovers the secret of the underground society.

My favorite part of the whole movie is where Dana and Marty escape down into the hidden facility by taking an elevator meant for the monsters. There, they see numerous other creatures and Dana comes to the realization that what they chose in the cellar defined their fate.

As they run through the underground facility, eventually Marty and Dana find an ancient temple. It is here that “The Director” (Sigourney Weaver) explains that each region has a different ritual. Theirs involves the sacrifice of five archetypes: the whore (Jules), the athlete (Curt), the scholar (Holden), the fool (Marty) and the virgin (Dana).

If you know me, you know I’m a sucker for gore and creature design. This film had the best of all of it in spades.

The special effects in the film were fantastic — all of the effects, costumes, makeup and prosthetic makeup were done by AFX Studio. AFX Studio has a long history of monster creation and is known for their work on “Men in Black” and “American Horror Story: Freak Show.”

It was extremely satisfying to see all the creatures from the background shots get to have their time to shine. And yet, along with the horror aspect, the movie kept up its comedic charm.

At the very beginning, Steve laments the fact that he’ll never see a mermaid. Spoiler alert! He gets to meet one.

Even though I completely forgot about this movie in the decade and some change that it’s been out, I can honestly say it has skyrocketed into my favorites list.

“The Cabin in the Woods” is rated R for violence, gore, language, drug use and sexual scenes and can be watched with your Peacock subscription.

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Breanna Hanley is a reporter for The Express.