SomeoneMovie Review: Severance
July 10th 2009 15:02
Premise: A group of employees working for a weapons manufacturer go on a team-building weekend, led by their boss Richard (Tim McInnerny). After being kicked off the bus by their Hungarian driver for reasons unknown, the group continue on foot until they supposedly find their lodge. It isn't long before they find that they are being hunted by an unknown enemy. apparently because of the company they work for.
I had no idea what to expect from Severance.... to tell you the truth, I hadn't even read the back of the DVD before watching it... I saw Tim McInnerny's name and picked it straight up. I watched some Black Adder Goes Forth not long ago, and spent the entire movie waiting for someone to waltz into the room and yell out 'hello, Darling!'. Needless to say, it doesn't happen, and I was very disappointed. However, he does bring the character of Darling back to life, and his awkward mannerisms help make this a humorous carnage-fest.
The plot is pretty flimsy.... The group of employees are being hunted by one or more people, because someone is pissed off at the company they work for. The group try to escape. End movie. However, despite the flimsy pretense, the script is wickedly clever. There are some moments that are just so dark... and yet so funny! I couldn't help but wince during a scene where one character stands on a bear trap, and in the process of trying to get him out the other group members end up chopping his leg off... and yet it was funny too. Darkly funny. Real dark. Or another scene where a female of the group is tied to a tree, and the bad guy douses her in petrol, and then can't get a match to light... so he turns around with a flamethrower and torches her. Not all of the comedy is black: there's the usual druggie of the group tripping out on mushrooms, and McInnerny's bumbling talks keep you giggling between brutal action sequences.
Gorehounds will definitely be pleased with this one: There is a copious amount of blood spilt in this movie, and definitely a few wince-worthy moments.
The acting in this film is just superb, and reflects the fact that casting took 4 months because the director wanted to find the perfect actors for their parts. I could not fault a single performance, as every role was near-perfect. Even down to the slutty mail order brides who get down to their undies in about 5 seconds flat... just perfect.
Overall, definitely worth a viewing. Funny, and brutal. If you are after a serious horror, probably give one a miss. There are some scenes where plausibility is sacrificed for the sake of comedy, which makes the movie work in it's way, but people looking for terror will be left shaking their heads.
It was apparently shown along with Black Sheep .... Now THERE'S a double-feature that you'd want to go to!
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