Severance (2006)

There are so many comedy/horror films like this out there, but very few are able to find the right balance of humour, gore and scares. 'Severance' is one of those few that gets it spot on. Laughs are plenty, there is enough gore to satisfy any horror fan, and it isn't short of things to make you jump either. Okay, it's been done before a million times over. The plot is predictable and lacks originality. That's not the point. This is a highly entertaining film, and that's all it seeks to be.'Severance' is nothing groundbreaking and nothing we haven't already seen before, but it's still a great piece of entertainment.

I personally am not usually a fan of horror-comedy films and especially British horror movies as all apart from a select few are terrible in my opinion. Severance is a refreshing take on the horror-comedy genre and has a sublime combination of essential elements of horror such as gore, jump scares, unpredictability and well done humour which has genuine laughable moments and made me root for certain characters. The majority of the cast's acting is strong and characters can be related to which allows you to connect with the film. The plot is somewhat different than the obligatory 'people in a cabin in the woods' that you might expect and has a relatively uplifting ending.

Co-writer and director Christopher Smith puts a rather fresh and funny spin on the standard slasher formula with this irreverent horror comedy. The employees of a multinational weapons manufacturer named Palisade travel to the Eastern European woods for a "team building" retreat. They get on each others' nerves for a while, but this will not turn out to be their biggest worry. What happens is that a very stealthy and extremely sadistic killer is going to target them, and arrange for them to meet nasty ends.Give Smith and his co-writer James Moran some credit for playing around with the conventions of slasher cinema without resorting to self-referential dialogue. The set-up is certainly a topical one, and the filmmakers do work in digs at corporate culture as well as this genre. The characters may grate on the nerves of some viewers. "Severance" does fall into that familiar trap of "dumb people doing dumb things", but at least not all of the characters are hopeless. Laura Harris plays Maggie as a resilient person who keeps a cool head in an emergency.Genre lovers will be pleased with a respectable amount of splatter, and it must be said that these particular woods - "Severance" was filmed in Hungary and The Isle of Man - possess some decent atmosphere. The performances are generally capable. Danny Dyer is the principal supplier of comedy relief as the immature Steve. Toby Stephens is fun in the role of Harris. The filmmakers also work in a brief and very amusing way to contrive some nudity.Ultimately, this is rather predictable and the ending isn't all that great, but this is still pretty enjoyable while it lasts.Seven out of 10.

A team-building weekend in the mountains of Eastern Europe goes horribly wrong for the sales division of the multi-national weapons company Palisade Defence when they become the victims of a group of crazed killers who will stop at nothing to see them dead.I recall this film coming out in 2006 and getting a lot of positive buzz from horror fans. For one reason or another, I never ended up watching it until now (March 2013). And I must say, the buzz was probably correct -- while not among the best horror films out there, it sure is well above average.The trick of this film is that it is a horror film, but only in its feeling. Terrorists, a bus flipping over, guns and bombs... that is an action film. This should be an action comedy. But the style is definitely in the horror vein, with the way certain things are presented (particularly the bear trap). What makes a horror film a horror film? That question has been asked many times, and I think this film definitely makes you wonder.Although many of the references were lost on me, I now know (from looking into the production) that many of the scenes were evoking Kubrick ("2001", "Strangelove" and "Clockwork Orange") and other notable directors. I love it. I love the subtlety of these homages... the "Clockwork" scene was clear to me, but I also am probably most familiar with that Kubrick film (although I have seen them all at least once).I would need to see this again to fully review it, but my initial impression is that it is a great blend of action, humor and horror. Well worth a look.