Rating: ****
Starring: Danny Dyer, Laura Harris, Tim McInnerny
The early 2000s were pretty good years for European horror: Dog Soldiers (2002) brought some spark back to the werewolf sub-genre, Shaun of the Dead (2004) pays decent tribute to classic zombie clichés and The Descent (2005) got creative by bringing us a new reason to be afraid of the dark. As for slashers, those years were a Godsend: Creep (2004) had us crawling through the underground subways to meet a deformed abortionist, The Last Horror Movie (2003) twists and turned our fave sub-genre against us and Ripper (2001), despite being one of the more underwhelming whodunit attempt I've seen in a long while, somehow gathered its own set of fans.
Coming from the same guy behind Creep, Christopher Smith forges another slasher in 2006, dashing in some witty British humor and a sweet action film backdrop that may not completely reinvent the sub-genre but entertains either way.
After that cold opening, we then follow seven co-workers from the European sales division of Palisade, a defense military arms corporation, on a bus trip headed to their team-building weekend deep into the Matra mountains of Hungary. Early on this scene, we can tell who are the ones biting on the other's leg and the ones just trying to make the weekend work. A real gaggle of personalities clashing against one another, but tolerating enough of each other's bullshit to keep themselves sane. Mostly.
Over the course of a single evening, the colleagues find out that the company's promised luxury lodge is more of an isolated dusty old cabin (With free pie!) and, once settled in, they pass the time sharing conspiracy stories about the lodge after finding Palisade papers indicating their involvement on a few Hungarian war atrocities some years ago. Of course, most of them brush this all off as bollocks until, later that night, one of them spots a masked man spying on her room and signs of somebody's presence being nearby.
Rattled, a few of the co-workers plan to leave the following morning and find a way out of the mountain, while those who decided to stay behind continue with their weekend plans either way. But after a mutilated corpse is spotted left to rot in a nearby stream and one of their pal's leg gets caught and chopped off by a hidden bear trap, the office outing just got bloody as someone with a deep hatred for Palisade is out to snuff them off one by one.
When it comes to good horror comedies, the trick to avoid becoming an uneven mess is to keep and maintain a good track of what's funny and what's horrific. Severance (2006), fortunately, manages to keep the two genres stable and fairly distributed tone-wise throughout the plot; the comedy here relies a lot on dry wit and dark touches as people die in very brutal manners such as decapitations, incinerations and one nasty anal stabbing, yet it's all laced with some comical backlashes such as exchanges about whether it's okay to leave what could be a dying man to save themselves, or scenes where a freshly decapitated head smiles at the fact that their theory about beheadings gets proven true.
Rattled, a few of the co-workers plan to leave the following morning and find a way out of the mountain, while those who decided to stay behind continue with their weekend plans either way. But after a mutilated corpse is spotted left to rot in a nearby stream and one of their pal's leg gets caught and chopped off by a hidden bear trap, the office outing just got bloody as someone with a deep hatred for Palisade is out to snuff them off one by one.When it comes to good horror comedies, the trick to avoid becoming an uneven mess is to keep and maintain a good track of what's funny and what's horrific. Severance (2006), fortunately, manages to keep the two genres stable and fairly distributed tone-wise throughout the plot; the comedy here relies a lot on dry wit and dark touches as people die in very brutal manners such as decapitations, incinerations and one nasty anal stabbing, yet it's all laced with some comical backlashes such as exchanges about whether it's okay to leave what could be a dying man to save themselves, or scenes where a freshly decapitated head smiles at the fact that their theory about beheadings gets proven true.
Mind that this is all done without exaggerating the gore and lewdness, a practice that commonly loom over most slasher-comedies, thus breaking away from the usual clichés which is a refreshingly bold move. Instead of loud annoying teens, the soon-to-be victimized are all working adults played by choice-cut stars. The roles they play are fleshed out and (for most) likable, if not entertainingly disposable given their fates thanks to a really strong and realistic script (which reminds a lot of folks of the comedy show The Office) and relatable performances.
Slicing its way in a quick-cut pacing and harboring a decent twist for a slasher villain, or villains, Severance (2006) has a distinctive flow that gets better as the movie forges further. Some hints of action and survival elements are thrown in the last act, all still retaining the dry humor and even bring in some interesting final characters. In the end, Severance can be seen as an slight improvement over the director's earlier slasher efforts and when I mentioned slight, I meant Creep is a great movie, but this is better! (I'm a big fan of Creep. I dunno but that movie works for me almost as good as Severance does!) Though some may complain that the jokes are a little too dark or may have dwindle down the cathartic aftermath of each murder, fans of sarcastic chuckles and bloody good backwoods horror will sure to have something great to remember thereafter.
1 body seen buried underneath a mound
1 male found slaughtered
1 male beheaded with a machete
1 female set on fire with a flamethrower
1 male flayed alive with a carving knife
1 male shot on the chest with a shotgun
1 male ran through the back with a machete, shot on the head with shotgun
1 male shot with shotgun
3 males blown apart by a land mine
A number of passengers in a (passing by) commercial jet gets blown up with a rocket
1 male had his head crushed with a dropped rock
1 male shot dead with a submachine gun
1 male forced to sit unto a stabbed hunting knife to the arse
1 male shot death with a submachine gun
Total: 16+
Slicing its way in a quick-cut pacing and harboring a decent twist for a slasher villain, or villains, Severance (2006) has a distinctive flow that gets better as the movie forges further. Some hints of action and survival elements are thrown in the last act, all still retaining the dry humor and even bring in some interesting final characters. In the end, Severance can be seen as an slight improvement over the director's earlier slasher efforts and when I mentioned slight, I meant Creep is a great movie, but this is better! (I'm a big fan of Creep. I dunno but that movie works for me almost as good as Severance does!) Though some may complain that the jokes are a little too dark or may have dwindle down the cathartic aftermath of each murder, fans of sarcastic chuckles and bloody good backwoods horror will sure to have something great to remember thereafter.
Bodycount:
1 male slaughtered with a hunting knife1 body seen buried underneath a mound
1 male found slaughtered
1 male beheaded with a machete
1 female set on fire with a flamethrower
1 male flayed alive with a carving knife
1 male shot on the chest with a shotgun
1 male ran through the back with a machete, shot on the head with shotgun
1 male shot with shotgun
3 males blown apart by a land mine
A number of passengers in a (passing by) commercial jet gets blown up with a rocket
1 male had his head crushed with a dropped rock
1 male shot dead with a submachine gun
1 male forced to sit unto a stabbed hunting knife to the arse
1 male shot death with a submachine gun
Total: 16+
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