The Facility

The Facility is the nerve center of the American branch of the Organization that runs the ritual for The Ancient Ones.

Description

One of the most used doors on The Facility, appearing several times in the film, including the System Purge

The Facility is a vast and extremely complex compound with many sectors that runs far underground beneath The Cabin. In addition to the main complex where each department that keeps the Facility running is stationed, the compound features a massive network of Containment Cubes, where all the various Monsters are kept in between their use. The Facility is the central hub from which the Cabin and surrounding areas can be monitored and controlled. Underneath the Facility lies the Ritual Chamber, and beneath that the Ancient Ones lie dormant within a trench leading to the core of the Earth. In addition to its main entrances, the Facility’s Cube Prison can be accessed via hatches that are attached to each Cube housing the Monsters.

Employees

• The Director - The leader of the Facility.
• Gary Sitterson - Control Room Technician.
• Steve Hadley - Control Room Technician.
• Daniel Truman - Control Room Security Officer.
• Wendy Lin - Chemical Department Technician.
• Mordecai - The "Harbinger."
• Ronald the Intern - An intern
• Elevator Guard - Member of the Security Force
• Demo Girl - Member of the Demolition Department
• More than 80 other employees

Departments

Sitterson standing in front of the betting board that all the departments take part in with the departments listed by specific monsters.

• Accounting - The Accounting Department are responsible for keeping financial accounts for damages done to the Cabin.

• Administration - Administration is likely responsible and is in charge of all internal operations at the facility. Possibly the bosses and managers for the employees of the Facility.

• Archives - The Archives Department are responsible for collecting historic records of the Rituals that have happened.

• Bio Med Department - Bio Med is responsible for treating and caring for any injured Facility employees. Basically, they are nurses and doctors ready on standby for any mishaps that may happen in or around the Facility. Bio Med may also be responsible for monitoring any hormonal or chemical imbalances within the Monsters of the Facility. In addition, Bio Med examines the bodies of the victims of the Cabin to determine precise cause of death.

• Chemical Department - The Chemical Department creates and releases fumes and chemicals to the Ritual's sacrifices inside the cabin in order to influence their decision making and cause psychophysiological reactions to them, such as making them tired, calm, etc.

• Communications - Communications is responsible for the facility's internal and external networking of the Facility.

• DNA Archives - The DNA Archives are responsible for keeping records of the DNA of monsters, Ritual sacrifices, and/or members of the Facility's staff.

• Data Archives - Data Archives is possibly in charge for keeping records of both the Monsters and victims of the facility. They record and store information about how many times a monster was released, how many victims were killed, etc.

• Demolition - The Demolition Department are responsible for destroying the tunnel leading in and out of the Cabin's protected zone.

• Digital Analysis - Similar to Data Archives, the Digital Analysis department is responsible for creating and documenting statistics based on what happens around or during events of the facility to be stored and studied for later.

• Distribution - Distribution is the team that handles the materials and goods that need to be transported to both the Facility and the Cabin.

• Electrical - The Electrical Department are responsible for giving power to the Facility and the Cabin.

• Engineering - Presumably responsible for the mechanical and technological aspects of the Facility and Cabin, such as environmental controls during the ritual.

• Finance - The Finance department is in charge of the billing and payroll of employees of the Facility. Like Accounting, they also keep track and store information about any financial accounts for the Facility and its operations.

• Internal Logistics - The Internal Logistics Department is responsible for all the materials inside both the Facility and the Cabin. Their job is to keep track of things like inventory to ensure everything is where it should be is fully supplied. Internal Logistics works with Distribution to transport these goods and materials around the Facility, basically it’s like the Facility’s factory itself.

• Kitchen Staff - The Kitchen Staff works at the Facility's cafeteria.

• Maintenance - The Maintenance Department keeps the Facility in proper condition, repairing malfunctioning equipment and cleaning the facility.

• Operations - Operations is responsible for the seeking-out of victims to be sacrificed to the Monsters of the Facility. It is their job to spy and track each of the teenagers chosen and update the Security Force of their actions and progression until their demise.

• Psychology - The Psychology department is presumably responsible for studying the behavior of the sacrificial victims in order to predict them for future rituals.It could conceivably study the reactions and behavior of some of the Facility's more human-like monsters to see how they adapt and change over time.

• Research and Development - The Research and Development Department are responsible for utilizing information received during the Ritual in order to improve the later ones.

• Security Force - The elite soldiers who protect the Facility.

• Story Department - The Story Department creates the stories for each of the Facility’s monsters.

• Wranglers - The Wranglers are responsible for recapturing the monsters that are released into the Cabin once the Ritual is done.

• Zoology - The Zoology Department studies the anatomies, biology, habits, and classifications of the monsters the Facility uses.

Important Sectors

• Break Room - Basic lounge area/kitchenette for employees of the Facility. Sitterson and Hadley were seen here at the start of the film.

• Control Room - Where all areas of the Facility can be monitored and the environment of said areas can be controlled, as there are many computer screens and CCTV cameras showing both normal sections of the Facility, the Cabin, the Elevator Lobby, each Cube Prison, etc. It is an extremely large, industrial-looking room. The walls look as if they are made from concrete. The only door to the Control Room resembles a the door of a vault, but extremely large, and all employees who enter need to show their Facility identification. Sitterson and Hadley are in direct control of all the preceding operations from this room, however many other high-ranking members from various departments such as Administration an Operations could also be stationed here. The Control Room is also where the betting parties occur, where many members of different departments in the Facility bet on and discuss which Monsters they think are going to be summoned from the Cabin's cellar. In addition, the levers that release the blood to the glass bowls in the Ritual Chamber are stationed in the Control Room. In addition, the The Cabin can be controlled from this room as well, such as locking the room doors, opening the trap door to the cellar, environmental effects, etc.

• Cube Prison (referred to as a 'stable' or 'cell') - The glass square holding cells for each of the Monsters (Possible reference to Cube). Each Cube varies in size and length, depending on sizes of the Monsters being held in them, or if they are in groups (for example, the Zombies need longer cubes because they are released in hordes). Each cube is held in a giant network, each being able to be controlled, monitored and summoned to either the Cabin or Elevator Lobby for a System Purge. They always move in a linear manner horizontally or vertically, occasionally halting next to one another. Each cube can contain any entity regardless of that entity's attributes: even creatures of tremendous strength, supernatural power or immaterial form (such as ghosts) are all trapped inside the cube until released. The cubes reside in a vast, dark void with no visible means of propulsion or suspension (tracks, lines, wires, etc.). Because of these properties, it is likely that the cubes are imbued with some sort of supernatural power from the Old Ones themselves.

• Elevator Lobby - The lobby area to which the Monsters are summoned to during a System Purge. It is a large hallway-like room, with four elevators on each side, which means one wave of eight different Monsters (or groups of Monsters) can be released at a time. The Elevator Lobby also has its own control room; where Dana and Marty both escape to in order to hide from the Security Forces. This room is where the (or perhaps one of possibly many) System Purge Button is stationed, as well as several CCTV cameras to monitor the Cube Prisons of each monster.

• Ritual Chamber - The Ritual Chamber is a large, medieval-styled room, below the Facility. The floor of the chamber is a rounded concrete slab, with the star-like symbol representing the Ancient Ones is engraved. Below the floor is where the Ancient Ones lie dormant within the core of the Earth; a deep, almost never ending abyss. If one looks over the edge of the floor, deep red fog can be seen, and demonic voices and whispers can be heard. The Ritual Chamber appears to only have one exit/entrance point, which is lead to from a series of tunnels that begin underneath the Control Room, and can only be accessed via a computer padlock. On the walls of the chamber are engraved the five slabs representing the five sacrifices needed to complete a ritual to satisfy the Ancient Ones. Once a victim has been killed, their blood is extracted and poured into large glass bowls that sit atop the figures of each victim. It is here where the Ancient Ones are summoned and the end of the world commences.

• Secret Escape Tunnel - A long, winding tunnel that leads directly to the Ritual Chamber, that can only be accessed via the Control Room. it is dimly lit, and is where Marty and Dana eventually end up during the System Purge.

Inspiration

While it may not necessarily have been inspired by anything specific, the Facility might be inspired by the sub-level facility of the Umbrella Corporation from the Resident Evil franchise. It might also be an inspiration of the SCP Foundation, since the facility contains monsters, humanoids, mythical creatures, man made abominations, extra dimensional beings, and extraterrestrials. More generally it is representative of any highly centralized control room necessary for any complex operation, such as what might be found at an agency like NASA or the NORAD.

In metafictional terms, the facility represents the creative process that goes into writing and creating horror movies of the kinds that Cabin parodies, wherein screenwriters craft a plot line, create a story, manage the actions of a story's characters, and then choose a film's primary antagonist from among a ready-made selection of horrors.

Trivia

• Drew Goddard revealed in a recent Q&A that there are many facilities like the one featured in the film all over the world, each with a different arsenal of monsters.