Severance (2006) User Reviews (219)

Enjoyable British comedy/horror from the director of Creep.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 18 November 2006]

Severance is a pitch-black comedy/horror that successfully blends laughs with outrageous scenes of extreme violence to tell the tale of a group of employees for a weapons company who, whilst on a team-building weekend in Eastern Europe, run into trouble when they are attacked by masked assailants.

I found the film to be both highly amusing and also rather creepy, although how much you enjoy the film will depend on how warped your sense of humour is. I liked it a lot, but then my sense of humour has always been rather questionable.

The story, which bears some resemblance in places to the extremely over-rated Hostel, allows some conjecture on the audience's part as to exactly who the killers are—something I particularly liked. Theories are bandied about by the film's characters, but the issue is never resolved absolutely, allowing the audience to decide for themselves.

The likable cast give sterling performances and manage both the comedic and horrific elements with ease. Director Christopher Smith, who also made the rather humdrum Creep, handles the action well, and the film moves at a brisk pace delivering plenty of chills and thrills along the way.

And to cap it all, Smith makes sure that the gore-hounds get their quota of blood 'n' guts, and even finds time to throw in a couple of topless escort girls for good measure.

I give Severance a very respectable 7 out of 10.

Not really any spoilers to worry about. Severance is both fun and gruesome!

[Youkilledmypine · 7/10 · 26 August 2006]

For the better part of a decade every British comedy or romance was hailed as 'The funniest film since Four Weddings and a Funeral'. Although there are many Brit films made in any year worth a look, only one will truly be mass marketed and labelled as our best export. With Four Weddings' a distant memory, anything remotely amusing or linked with horror is now wrongly compared to Shaun of the Dead (or possibly Dog Soldiers). Poster quotes and lazy comparisons aside, it's nice surprise that for a horror comedy, Severance isn't actually half bad at all.

The plot is nice and simple. A (predominantly English) sales division working for a multinational weapons corporation are sent on a team building exercise in Hungary only to find themselves stuck in a dense forest where they are being hunted by a merciless European gang.

While Severance doesn't do anything particularly wrong, there are of course a couple of faults. Any work environment has to have some pretty unlikeable characters so it's unavoidable to feel less sorry for some when the killings start. Toby Stephens is undoubtedly one of the finest actors around, but he's yet to play a role in a successful film that really does him justice. Utterly capable and ever reliable Tim McInnerny (of legendary Blackadder fame) is amiable enough, but it's Danny Dyer that gets most of the punchy one-liners as the part-druggie, part-chav cheeky chappie he's grown accustomed to playing. Thankfully, cute Laura Harris hasn't been cast as the 'is she or isn't she the villain all along?' as it's really time she ditched that and moved on.

The two distinct genres don't always make for a happy marriage and eventually the tone shifts over to deadpan. At least one line is stolen from elsewhere but there's a couple of shots that felt like homages rather than plagiarism. There's more than enough laughs and nasty moments to fill both audience preferences. The fast pace means Severance doesn't risk outstaying a welcome, the special effects team did a great job and the camera work is suitably snappy. The only real risk is hype as anyone expecting anything other than a night out with a few grim moments and some genuine belly laughs will leave wondering what the fuss is about. Try to avoid thinking about where these guys took their inspiration from too as that wouldn't do anyone any good either. A solid 3 star experience that hopefully has some extra bits come home-entertainment time.

Action-Packed British Horror Film

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 3 March 2013]

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.

Nice good bloody serious fun!

[tastethevapour · 7/10 · 1 September 2006]

I'm quite surprised that this movie hasn't done better as I thought it had hit written all over it. This film has only been out for two weeks here in Scotland and it already only has one showing at 10.25 at night and the screen that we were in only had around 15 people in it. Shame that, as this movie is brilliant entertainment.

It starts out with pretty funny moments but gets very violent and gory after a while. This is what I found a bit confusing with the film as I found myself not sure whether to laugh at some parts or not (the part with the guys leg being the main example).

However I did enjoy it though and some parts, especially the ending are very exciting. The plot is pretty clever and the characters are likable. All in all if you can handle the violence then this is a movie worth catching. Shame it's not getting the same recognition as Shaun Of The Dead.

A bloody good time.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 27 April 2015]

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.

Entertaining mix of comedy and gore

[The_Void · 7/10 · 10 June 2007]

I went into this film expecting a zombie movie for some reason, but actually Severance is more like a British version of Eli Roth's successful 'Hostel', albeit with a bit more humour. There have been a few good British horror movies over the past few years, including most notably the likes of Dog Soldiers, Shaun of the Dead, Wilderness and The Descent. I wouldn't say this one really lives up to the best of them; but Severance is good comedic and bloodthirsty fun, and there's certainly enough about it to ensure that the film stands tall as another feather in the cap of modern British horror. The film starts off in a truly nightmarish fashion; we are introduced to a bunch of office workers going on a 'team building' trip in the middle of nowhere. The prospect of this alone is enough to make me not want to sleep tonight, but it gets (arguably) worse for these guys it when it turns out that they're not the only ones in the middle of nowhere - a bunch of bloodthirsty maniacs turn out to be doing a bit of team building too!

The film is pretty slow to start, with the first half of the film merely seeing us being introduced to the cast of snivelling office workers. However, once the violence starts, the film really hots up as we get treated to a whole load of grisly sequences that see things such as decapitations and limbs being lopped off. The location is put to good use as our cast of characters finds themselves in the middle of an Eastern European country and director Christopher Smith does an excellent job of ensuring the tone of the film is always hopeless. The cast isn't anything to write home about, although Danny Dyer, who you might remember from the very decent British gangster flick The Business, does a good job of holding the film together. The humour doesn't blend as well with the horror as the director obviously thought it would, and this is where the film falls down for me. Severance would have been a better movie if the director could have made his mind up about exactly where he wanted to take it. As it happens, Severance is an entertaining mix of gore and laughs; but it's not at the cutting edge of modern horror.

Gruesomely effective black comedy

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 14 December 2016]

SEVERANCE is nothing new. I'll admit that from the outset. Its thrills, spills, and chills are a jumble of themes, with references to THE EVIL DEAD and DELIVERANCE in the plotting and scenes straight out of HOSTEL amongst other films. There's nothing you haven't seen here before. Instead, this is part of a modern sub-genre of British cinema which throws a group of people into an isolated natural setting and gives them an enemy to battle. We had soldiers vs. werewolves in DOG SOLDIERS; cavers vs. mutants in THE DESCENT and juvenile delinquents vs. a maniac in WILDERNESS. SEVERANCE, with its tale of office workers battling Eastern European criminals in the woods, fits easily into this mould. It doesn't really try hard to be anything else or to offer much in the way of surprise. But I loved it to bits anyway.

The script is a definite plus, offering a ton of black comedy mixed in with the horror. Scenes such as the bear trap sequence are a perfect mix of laughs and chills, and the gore level in this movie is spot on. My favourite moment is the smiling severed head, one of the best jokes I've seen done in a comic horror. It's little touches like this which make the film that much more enjoyable – the rocket launcher moment is another nice surprise. The action is well-handled and the traditional pacing, with a slow build-up and frenetic climax, works a treat. Another big highlight is the cast. I don't care much for Danny Dyer but even he does well in this one, what with his magic mushroom ride. Laura Harris is another in a long line of ass-kicking heroines, while Toby Stephens shows why it's wrong to typecast him as a villain. Tim McInnerny is also outstanding as the stuffy boss. SEVERANCE won't set the world alight, and it's occasionally lazy in its plotting, but for the most part it's an engaging little movie, and one you can watch more than once.

Funny, scary, clever and even moving

[glennondaniel · 9/10 · 24 August 2006]

I was a big fan of Chris Smith's previous film Creep and had heard this was even better so I had high expectations going in. They were completely surpassed by this superlative slice of hilarious horror action.

The way the film combines humour and horror is skilled and the script is smarter than average for the genre. The film works better as a comedy and there are some absolutely precious comedy moments that I won't detail here as I don't want to spoil any of them. Suffice to say that the audience were busily quoting them and some of the better of the fantastic lines of dialogue after the screening. I feel people will be quoting some of these lines for years!

On a more serious note, there are some seriously scary scenes in the picture and even a couple of deaths of some of the more sympathetic characters that are actually quite moving.

The cast is also perfect, none of them put a foot wrong. Laura Harris completely kicks ass as the heroine.

I sorta want to see a sequel but heaven knows where they'd go with it.

Overall, I loved the film - it's made by a writer and director who are genuine horror fans and it shows. They're also both very talented.

(Yet another) Quirky take on the slasher genre

[Sandcooler · 7/10 · 18 February 2012]

The genre of self-referential tongue-in-cheek slashers has worn out its welcome a long time ago, but luckily "Severance" often takes breaks from being so damn clever and brings some actual thrills. The first half hour is pretty boring and filled with lame attempts at comedy, but afterwards it actually gets pretty exciting. The tension is gradually built up, and around halfway you're just totally sucked into this movie. This is mainly due to the characters, who are all pretty likable (to the standards of the genre, at least). You actually give a damn who lives and who dies, which is very rare is a slasher. The story also takes a lot of unexpected twists and turns, it's a pretty cleverly written movie. "Severance" is by no means great cinema, but it does seem to achieve whatever it wanted to achieve. Fun watch.

Not nearly funny enough

[charchuk · 5/10 · 13 January 2008]

I didn't like it much. It's not nearly as clever or funny as it thinks it is, and the horror violence seems disturbing and mean-spirited instead of mocking and over-the-top. The dialogue really isn't that sharp at all, and the characters are either incredibly unlikeable or just plain bland. There's only a few minutes of side-splitting humour (the rocket/plane being the highlight), and there's some moments of sly comic brilliance (loved the three different stories told), but it just turns into the very thing it's trying to mock by the end. The villains are too real and too human to be properly made fun of, and thus any joke involving them just falls flat. It's not nearly funny enough to be labeled a hybrid, so instead it's just a horror with some black comedy elements. Shame.

An Absolutely Brilliant Blend of Humour and Suspense!

[chris60 · 10/10 · 6 August 2006]

Firstly, yes, it's a "slasher" movie by definition: people meet horrific ends through discomforting means. But unlike slasher movies with sophomoric scripts, this one get points for smart dialogue, strong political perspective and a high humor quotient.

Some, upon hearing the title "Severance," will think it a reference to loosing ones job. Upon hearing it's a slasher film, one might think the reference cuts more towards Marie Antoinette. Both are borne out, yet the title's other reference which comes quietly but cleverly to light at the conclusion is somberly delightful.

For the squeamish, give this one a miss - you won't make it past the first bit of nastiness. For those who are a little braver, but wouldn't usually attend a film in which most of the cast is guaranteed to wind up sprung from this mortal coil, do give this one a go. You'll be pleasantly surprised!

Not bad for a low budget British movie.

[deloudelouvain · 7/10 · 26 February 2019]

Comedy and horror together don't always work but in this case it was a good move, not that there are hilarious scenes, just some subtle humor, but the mix between the two genres was well balanced. The horror parts were creepy and there was a constant suspense what kept you interested in the story. The acting wasn't bad either. Danny Dyer might be in Eastenders, what I think as an ordinary soap, but he can act better than the average soap actor. Anyway, Severance is a bit of fun, a bit of horror and suspense all the way through, an entertaining British movie.

Pretty bad....

[smiley1635 · 5/10 · 12 September 2006]

I have just seen this film and I must say I didn't like it. Even before watching it I thought it was going be awful simply by the line in the TV advert "As witty as Shaun of the Dead". OK so SotD was a good film and I think that Severance is jumping on the bandwagon a bit.

The film spends around 30 minutes building up to any action. In this time the characters are not developed at all, except for the fact that one of them is a drug addict (That will appeal to the typical 15 rated cheap horror cinema goer) and one of them is American which is irrelevant.

We eventually see a number of the cast die by 'gruesome' means. The comedy in this film is not 'as witty as Shaun of the Dead' at all. In fact there is very little comedy in the entire film. Trying to put a leg in a fridge while pulling disgusted faces isn't really very witty at all.

People seem to just settle for very mediocre films at the moment. Sure its mildly entertaining but its nothing new. Even the action/slasher scenes are pretty lame and become tiresome. And when the Romanian 'escorts' arrive for comic relish at the end of the film and it ends with the word 'foursome' it just completely leaves it on a down ending.

To be honest I was bored throughout the film. Nothing led anywhere, the action scenes were as dull as the characters.

5/10

Once Again?

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 20 January 2009]

A group of British employees of the weapons company Palisade Defense travels to Hungary for a team-building weekend. However they are hunted by a paramilitary force composed of deranged blood-thirsty killers and they have to fight to survive.

Last month I saw "Backwoods" (2008) that has a similar story of a group of employees that goes to an isolated place in the woods to improve teamwork playing paint-ball and other activities. Both "Severance" and "Backwoods" are not a bad movies, meaning that the acting, direction and effects are decent. However, there is a total lack of originality in the story, which is a rip-off or remake of "The Hills Have Eyes", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Wrong Turn", "Timber Falls" and others less famous movies. The leader Richard is extremely stupid to be considered a "top-executive", and I could not see how this silly paint-ball game could improve relationships in work. Due to the lack of originality of the story, I copied part of my review of "Backwoods" to keep the level. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Mutilados" ("Severance")

The Poor Man's "Hostel"

[DeanHull · 6/10 · 31 August 2006]

Saw the movie 2 hours ago and must say I am slightly disappointed. There were a few decent and slightly innovative scares, and also a few decent laughs. However Danny Dyer's character makes no sense as a pill popping employee on a team building exercise with his boss- we assume, as we are never really informed of how the group is actually made up other than that Tim McInnery (who is the best thing about the movie) is the boss. Dyer smokes countless joints of cannabis,ingests enough magic mushrooms to floor a horse as well as carrying a bag of ecstasy, all this whilst away with his work colleagues?

The story takes at least half of the movie to get going, and then it doesn't really get going at all. Apart from a couple of "spooky stories about this place" we don't find any explanation for any of the "horrors" and the ending is very vague. This is a shame, because the story could have been far better developed in the hands of a good screenwriter. Worth a watch on DVD, but keep your box office pennies in your pocket, or go see "The Descent" instead.

"Wes Craven's "THE OFFICE"

[george.schmidt · 7/10 · 21 May 2007]

SEVERANCE (2007) **1/2 Toby Stephens, Claudie Blakley, Andy Nyman, Babou Ceesay, Tim McInnerny, Laura Harris, Danny Dyer, David Gilliam, Juli Drajko, Judit Viktor, Sandor Boros. "Wes Craven's "THE OFFICE" could've been the pitch for this uneven yet entertaining to a degree hybrid of inane comedy and bloodletting terror about a corporate outing in Hungary with a British arms conglomerate unsuspectedly entering a nightmare when they are detoured into a hellish encampment of crazed psychopaths are lurking, stalking them one by one . Gruesome torturous violence mixed with cutting humor is admittedly not every one's cup of tea but for those in the know should get a kick for the more hit-than-miss dark, bleak satire. (Dir: Christopher Smith)

Fun movie with some nice splatting effects

[stephoch · 7/10 · 6 August 2006]

I have seen this movie at the fantasy filmfest 2006 as the official opener. I must say it was very enjoyable yet somewhat silly at times. Some people claimed it was the weakest opening movie in the history of the fantasy filmfest (which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year).

*Mild spoilers ahead* (I wouldn't call them spoilers, but some could.)

The story is nice but not very new: Teambuilding weekend for the employees of a weapons manufacturer. They come to an eastern europe country, the road is blocked, bus driver refuses to continue driving and form then on they decide to walk by foot and we all know it's no good. So basically you might think it's one of these "Alone in the woods" movies, a group of people out in the wilderness, getting killed one by one. And you're right.

Severence is indeed a party movie, if you liked Braindead or Monster Man you'll most likely enjoy it as well. However it ain't a spectacular movie like you've never seen before, it's like Shawn of the Dead meets Texas Chainsaw Massacre with blood and gore. Not for the faint of heart but enough comedy elements to maybe get your significant other to watch this with you.

Clever, witty and scary!

[puke_on_c0ps · 8/10 · 14 August 2006]

I recently saw this film premiere in Manchester as part of the Sky Festival and I have to say, I was impressed. I went in expecting nothing much, having read the comments and other info on IMDb before I went. However, these do not do this film justice.

It was witty, clever, well written but managed to balance this perfectly with it's horror elements. The idea behind the story is seemingly unique within cinema, and therefore was interesting and kept the viewer gripped. The acting was of a high standard in particular, Andy Nyman. I would say that Danny Dyer's role was well-played etc etc, but I met him afterwards, (and there was also a Q+A session) and he was rather obnoxious, I didn't like him (think Moff from Human Traffic... that wasn't method acting).

As for the direction, it is very commendable, in fact, the director Chris Smith, held a Q+A after the film and he definitely knew what he was talking about, as a big horror fan/geek, that was refreshing to see, particularly since none of his other films have approached this genre with any gusto. The film is reminiscent of Calvaire (the ordeal) and you can definitely see this in the direction - (he did say that Calvaire was one of his favourite films when I questioned him about the similarities).

Overall the film is definitely worth your hard earned £6. A wonderful example of GOOD contemporary British cinema, something which is difficult to find these days. However, I can't help wondering whether or not it's all an allegory to British rave culture...?!?!

Severance

[jboothmillard · 6/10 · 29 August 2006]

When I saw the trailer, me and my brothers thought it was going to be a horror comedy, but not all of it made us laugh. The film started gory, and I remembered that it was directed by Christopher Smith (Creep), so it didn't matter if it was funny or not, to me anyway. This was a great unpredictable horror classic, and I can see how they think it is as witty as Shaun of the Dead. Basically a gang of weapons division workers are on a bus to spend a team-building weekend, and they get lost somewhere in the woods. They decide to walk and find what they assume is the house, with a note left in it. However, this house is not all it's cracked up to be when they discover that there are people watching them, and then eventually, they start killing them one by one. Starring Danny Dyer as Steve, Laura Harris as Maggie, Blackadder's Tim McInnerny as Richard, Die Another Day's Toby Stephens as Harris, Claudie Blakley as Jill, Andy Nyman as Gordon, Babou Ceesay as Billy, David Gilliam as George, Matthew Baker as Noseferatu, Juli Drajkó as Olga and Kaite Johns as Model in net. The two highlights of the film for me are the pie scene, Gordon having an incident with a bear trap and his foot in the fridge, and Richard on the land mine. Good!

Letdown

[m-doehne · 1/10 · 25 October 2006]

So it took this movie for me to go to the trouble of figuring out how to post comments. That's about the biggest achievement I can credit it with.

"Severance" has been marketed as a Horror/Comedy and the comparisons to the excellent "Saun of the Dead" had me eager to watch it. Not only did it not meet my (admittedly high) expectations, this movie also contains some of the sickest scenarios imaginable.

The humor of a woman tied to a tree, doused in gasoline and burnt with a flamethrower is simply beyond me. Having a guy's foot ripped off by a bear trap is something that doesn't get funnier if the trap keeps slipping and the guys' leg is mashed to pulp (well, actually it's severed (!) right off), leaving us with the (admittedly mildly original) scene of the protagonist taking off shoe and sock to place the severed foot into the bus' fridge. I honestly failed to see the irony of it all.

Alluding to concentration camps (the make-up of the final scenery with railroad tracks leading into an abandoned factory is reminiscent of large CCs) and having the psychos (whose actions have no purpose other than to scare and revolt the viewer - don't expect any explanation for why this carnage is unleashed upon the screen) be rampant eastern-European soldiers on a torture- and killing spree renders the movie a sickening touch that really has no part in "entertainment" movies.I should have noticed that "Severance" was directed by the same pervert who brought us "Creep". I sincerely believe that there are certain transgressions that shouldn't be made in cinema - especially with such a transparent intent of solely entertaining.

What might be considered funny by a bunch of pubescent weeds is that the protagonist keeps his joints in receptacles originally intended for cigarettes and cigars. That's about the funniest this movie got. The actors themselves were charismatic, but seeing them in a sick movie like this one really put me off them for a long time.

Fantastic Film!

[tamsin-12 · 10/10 · 11 August 2006]

I saw a screening of this film recently and loved it! It is truly original and one of the best horror/black comedy films I have ever seen.

The story is gripping and the cast is excellent - some of the finest British actors give star performances - in particular a stellar performance from Danny Dyer.

Normally this type of film can be all blood and guts, but Severance manages to combine the horror element (ie enough blood & gore!) with a gripping story line which keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the film.

You will be either clutching the person next to you or howling with laughter as the filmmakers take you on an extreme roller-coaster ride. I will be surprised if this film is not a huge hit!!

Liked it but perhaps a little racist?

[Minibar5000 · 6/10 · 9 January 2007]

I enjoyed the movie, thought it was a good laugh, but one thing annoyed me. The film was set in Hungary, yet the only Eastern European characters were overly stereotyped terrorist types and hookers. Why do horror films such as hostel and more recently this one continue to paint stereotypes of eastern Europeans as barbaric and evil? I think its an unhealthy image that is being used more and more. Aside from that I thought it was a funny original concept, supported by a pretty solid cast, and had some hilarious dialogue, the "trying to fit the leg in the fridge" scene had me in stitches, and there was some clever digs at the arms industry. Just wish they could been have a bit more subtle with the sterotyping. Still nice to see some original comedy/horror film making from the UK!

Comedy-horror?

[jumper-12 · 1/10 · 27 August 2006]

I know I'm going to get jumped on for this, but this film was touted as being a "Comedy-Horror" along the lines of "Shaun Of The Dead", but safe to say we didn't laugh once.

Horror and gore and pointless storyline, sure. But comedy? No way. And to include a "gag" which involved a 747 being accidentally being shot from the sky.....? I guess loads of people will love this film, which is fair enough - different strokes and all that. But I just wanted to make a point that you can't always take reviews which describe things as "absolutely hilarious" or the "best film of the year" seriously.

Just my opinion...........

If You Liked "Wilderness"

[view_and_review · 7/10 · 19 March 2021]

If you liked the movie "Wilderness" I think you'll get a kick out of "Severance." In fact, they are very similar except "Severance" is more fun.

The movie starts with a man and two attractive women running through the woods. The two women fall into a pit and the guy abandoned them there. Obviously, you knew he was going to die after that. Cinema rule #342 states: "Thou shalt not abandon the helpless and live."

After that opening scene it cuts to seven employees of Palisade Defence (sic) company going on a team building retreat somewhere in Hungary. It wasn't long after settling into what they thought was their luxury lodge that they were being hunted. It only made sense; this was a cabin in the woods. Something bad had to happen.

The carnage began with a gnarly bear trap to the leg of a Palisade employee named Gordon (Andy Nyman). It was bad, but I give the nod to "Wilderness" for best bear trap scene. After that, the panic at the disco was on.

We don't get to see any of the perpetrators until the last third of the movie. The last third of the movie is also when the most badass action happens. Our designated female survivor, Maggie (Laura Harris), had a scene in which she shot one of the woodsman psychos while he was trapped. She had one of the best lines you'll hear in a horror movie:

"I don't want to be accused of not killing him when I had the chance."

It was an instant quotable classic.

But, like I said, she was our designated female survivor. It seems very very few scary movies can dispense with that trope. I think it's Cinema rule #24: "There shall always be a female survivor." She was in the bad guys' cross hairs three times and was saved all three times. One particular time was especially eye-rolling. She was caught in a trap hanging upside down and, instead of gutting her like this same guy did to another ensnared victim, he cut her down to, presumably, rape her. That's always a no-no. "Horniness will get you killed": Cinema rule #178. She was able to fight him off and crush his skull with a small boulder.

I don't want to make it sound like she survived alone, the two female escorts trapped in the ditch also survived. In fact, one of them became a deus ex-machina for Maggie again. Three out of the four women of the movie survived while one guy survived. It's not typical for more than one woman to survive, so there's that, but it is typical for just about every dude to get slaughtered.

"Severance" gets points for the setting, the plot, and Maggie's kill & quote. It loses points for the blond-haired, blue-eyed, female survivor and the other cinema tropes. Still a fun watch overall.

it was OK.

[chris_mac-2 · 6/10 · 13 May 2008]

the cast did a fantastic job with what id say is a fairly average story. mildly funny in places, a pathetic ending and overall a seemingly pointless, yet strangely entertaining wander through an intelligent gore-fest.

the let down? there was far too many style inconsistencies... it started with a great set up of relaxed score with fast paced thriller visuals... but then by the end it had lost this "charm"and had a fairly normal fitting score... maybe they changed there mind 1/2 way through...

don't believe the hype about this being anywhere near as well done as Shaun of the dead... i did enjoy it though.