Severance
Year: 2006
Director: Christopher Smith
Written by: James Moran, Christopher Smith
Threat: Psychopaths
Weapon of Choice: Knife
Based upon: none
Color/B&W/3D: Colour
Language: English
Country of Origin: UK
IMDb page: 
SeveranceYear: 2006 Director: Christopher Smith Written by: James Moran, Christopher Smith Threat: Psychopaths Weapon of Choice: Knife Based upon: none Color/B&W/3D: Colour Language: English Country of Origin: UK IMDb page: |
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Other movies in this series:
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The tyranist's thoughts
Working in the lower echelons of a modern corporation is, generally speaking, half a step from indentured servitude. You have no rights, not really. You owe the company everything. They owe you nothing. But every once in a while, they do something nice. Like send you on a retreat. In the back woods of an Eastern European country. Miles away from civilisation. Quite close to people who might really, really hate your company. And even though you don't like your company all that much either, wearing the badge might be offense enough. And soon thoughts of hooking up with your really hot co-worker might be secondary to thoughts about staying alive.
The trailer for this one pitched black humor on top of black humor all while making fun of more than a few corporate memes. How could I not be sucked in. Luckily the movie delivers. It is witty and relentless and dark and funny. There were a couple questionable moments, but all the same, the action begins pretty early in and doesn't let up much until it is all over. The very idea of a group of sales and marketing hacks that work for an arms manufacturer going for a retreat in an area that could be considered enemy territory is brilliant. Add to that the awkward dynamics of the group and you have what I'm sure they pitched to their financers: The Office meets Hostel. Personally I would have gone with High Tension, but you can't expect these money types to appreciate quality French horror.
The acting is excellent. I was really happy to see Laura Harris again, she deserves more work. And Dead Like Me deserved to stay on the air a bit longer. Andy Nyman was particularly good as the overly enthusiastic character and Toby Stephens was fun to watch in a not quite the hero, not quite the arrogant prick role. Most spot on, though, was probably Tim McInnerny as the bureaucratic manager of the group. The group was fun and understood just how seriously the whole thing needed to be taken.
This isn't for everyone, but I had a great deal of fun watching it. Again the British show the way forward in horror comedy. If only the Americans could catch on to the delicate balance and desperate need for a coherent story when trying for both scares and laughs. At any rate, this is worth a look if you like a bit of humour mixed in with your scares.
Posted: October 8, 2007
Total Skulls: 17
| Sequel | ||
| Sequel setup | ||
| Rips off earlier film | ||
| Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie | ||
| Future celebrity appears | ||
| Former celebrity appears | ||
| Bad title | ||
| Bad premise | ||
| Bad acting | ||
| Bad dialogue | ||
| Bad execution | ||
| MTV Editing | ||
| OTS |  |
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| Girl unnecessarily gets naked | ||
| Wanton sex | ||
| Death associated with sex | ||
| Unfulfilled promise of nudity | ||
| Characters forget about threat | ||
| Secluded location | |
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| Power is cut | ||
| Phone lines are cut | ||
| Someone investigates a strange noise | |
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| Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door | |
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| Camera is the killer | |
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| Victims cower in front of a window/door | ||
| Victim locks self in with killer | |
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| Victim running from killer inexplicably falls | ||
| Toilet stall scene | ||
| Shower/bath scene | ||
| Car stalls or won't start | ||
| Cat jumps out | ||
| Fake scare | ||
| Laughable scare | ||
| Stupid discovery of corpse | ||
| Dream sequence | |
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| Hallucination/Vision | |
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| No one believes only witness | ||
| Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth | ||
| Warning goes unheeded | |
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| Music detracts from scene | ||
| Death in first five minutes | |
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| x years before/later | ||
| Flashback sequence | |
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| Dark and stormy night | ||
| Killer doesn't stay dead | ||
| Killer wears a mask | |
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| Killer is in closet | ||
| Killer is in car with victim | ||
| Villain is more sympathetic than heroes | ||
| Unscary villain/monster | ||
| Beheading | |
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| Blood fountain | |
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| Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc. | |
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| Poor death effect | ||
| Excessive gore | ||
| No one dies at all | ||
| Virgin survives | ||
| Geek/Nerd survives | ||
| Little kid lamely survives | ||
| Dog/Pet miraculously survives | ||
| Unresolved subplots | ||
| "It was all a dream" ending | ||
| Unbelievably happy ending | ||
| Unbelievably crappy ending | ||
| What the hell? |