An outstanding, funny Horror-Comedy!
Added 10/6/2009
I picked this up used on a whim from Amazon. Well, a whim inspired on the fact that it has Laura Harris in a leading roll... Anyway, right from the beginning, the movie presents its off beat witty humor. The characters are all likable (for their respective rolls) and the story is surprisingly solid for a movie of this genre. Oh, and the ending was great!
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Loved It, Loved It, Loved It...
Added 9/24/2009
Just got this the other day and have already watched it twice. Had to share it with my friends.... I laughed so hard during this movie, its got the campy goodness, but also the gore and creative killings ([...]) of a great slasher flick. All in all this is an awesome flick! I'm so glad I got this one...
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Brilliant Bloodbath
Added 9/12/2009
Directed by Christopher Smith
Written by James Moran & Christopher Smith
Any intelligent person forced to take part in an office team-building exercise knows how easy it would be to slip from controlled corporate rage to homicide. The creators of Severance understand that feeling. In place of traditional slasher film targets (such as obnoxious teenagers) they have substituted the people we most want to see mutilated and murdered: co-workers.
When their bus breaks down somewhere in an Eastern European forest, several sales employees of the multi-national Palisade Defence have to schlep their belongings to the nearest hotel. There they await instructions from the American executive who planned their trip. The hotel turns out to be a moldy inn equipped with no amenities except weird pie. And every step outside the place lands the unhappy employees in (often excruciating) peril.
Acting Talent
Thanks to a terrific cast that includes Laura Harris, Danny Dyer, and Tim McInnerny (Lord Percy Percy and Capt. Darling of Blackadder fame) there is no need for over-the-top special effects. Don't get me wrong; what is here is truly horrific. But the point of view makes it so. For example, there's a scene in which a character sees something that gets his feet moving a lot faster--only we don't see what he sees. We see the sheer, animal terror in his eyes, and this is just as effective as anything the props department could have dreamed up.
Plausibility
While some horror filmmakers court plausibility with computer graphics, Christopher Smith makes the bolder and more disturbing choice to go natural. All the stunts and threats come from realistic or believable objects, relations, and circumstances. The style works; it hurts to watch.
Wit
A couple of the best jokes in this film are a long time coming. Yet they're set up so expertly, you recognize every punch line the second it arrives.
Story
You'll spend about half the film trying to figure out if the force preying on our busload of working stiffs is supernatural, psychological, or real. When you finally know, the answer is satisfying in so many ways. All the pieces fit together as snugly as a perfect jigsaw puzzle.
Break out the good wine, and screen this one with smart friends you want to impress and terrify.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Severance Sort of
Added 8/7/2009
I wish that we could give half stars when rating films because it would make life so much easier. Some films just fall into that netherland in between a 3 and a 4 and SEVERANCE is one of them. It isn't the laff riot that I expected but it does offer moments of dark humor though not as much as I had been led to believe. In fact it has one very clever sequence based on the silent version of NOSFERATU that was one of the best things I've seen in years--unfortunately the film makers couldn't sustain that level of creativity for the entire 90 minute running time. There were other things I admired, to be sure. Such as some of the surprises they pulled out of their bag in relation to the identity of the killer. I liked the fact that there was no solid background for him, that all we know is what the characters gave us themselves as they sat around the table telling different stories they had heard in the past.
SEVERANCE isn't exactly a carnage fest either. There is gore aplenty but if you're looking for eviscerations you aren't going to find them here. And those of you looking for nudity are going to have to wait until the last few minutes to see four breasts. The plot concerns a group of Brits employed by a weapons manufacturer. They are on corporate retreat in Rumania or some such place when their bus breaks down, their driver deserts them,and they decide to hike to what they presume to be their lodge. Wrong. It is in fact the lair of the usual demented serial killer. Violence ensues. Fortunately I could care less about that but it would take too much effort. SEVERANCE is an okay rental. You might even get a kick out of it.
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The humor's not the only cutting thing in this British flick...
Added 8/3/2009
Severance (2004) When an office sales staff for a British weapons manufacturer goes on a team building weekend during a sales tour of the Balkans, things go wrong quickly and hugely as they go from being lost from their bus, to finding themselves taking refuge in an abandoned lodge that is a far cry from the luxury lodgings promised, to worst of all, someone bumping them off one by one! Starting off as a satire of British office politics (like the British version of The Office) we move a little bumpily to a stylistic cousin to the torture porn movies of late. It's not a full on example of TP because the onscreen gore is not as extensively presented, but it's definitely related with travel to the Balkans region resulting in traps and murder from a mysterious figure. From here, though, the genrebending is a bit strained, as the filmmakers present a full on horror movie spotted with a stream of silly moments. Strangely, though this makes the movie at best watchable, everything I read prior to watching the movie indicated it's a small gem. Not so much. In addition to the horror/humor blending not working well, there are some script problems, especially in the area of whodunit and why. Still in all, the movie is watchable, and might be a decent option for those who like horror movies but shy away from the gore. The cast is fun, with clueless office manager Tim McInnerny (Blackadder) and office sales shark Toby Stephens (Die Another Day) standing out. So not an unqualified success, but worth a look for those so inclined.
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