Severance - Tagli al personale

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.

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.

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.

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...?!?!

Gory, funny and frightening. The premise isn't that original, but the execution is mighty good and it succeeds in making you actually care for the characters. Well worth the watch!