Séminaire

You're probably going to see 'The Conference' described as a comedy/horror. I'm not sure I would describe it that way. There are a lot of quirky characters doing some odd things but it never really felt like a film that was trying to make me laugh. The tone was pretty serious for the most part.

I'm a sucker for a masked killer. The mask here was good, although perhaps a little similar to the one in 'Happy Death Day'. The killer proves himself early on to not be playing around. He is out for blood and he will get it in some pretty violent and often creative fashion.

I think this is a film where the lower your expectations are, the better time you are going to have. Is it a horror masterpiece? No. Is it a reasonably fun time and a good film to watch on Friday the 13th (its release date)? Sure. There are some fun kills and some decent moments of tension here and there. 5.5/10.

The title refers to my home country across the bay. In Finland, the quality of films and series still varies to an unfortunate extent, and in many areas we seem to have difficulty in exploiting our own strengths. The Swedes, on the other hand, know how to make films of guaranteed quality in every genre.

I'm not a fan of this genre myself, but this film was quite entertaining. Great actors and the ability to laugh at the silly aspects of Swedishness as seen from Finland - of course, it seemed that the filmmakers also understood the silly aspects of Swedishness.

From a Finnish perspective, the characters were quite relatable and also the municipal politics. The film also touched on the pain points of Swedish society, but only very briefly. There was no real message, and I don't think anyone expects that from a film of this genre.

In the spirit of neighbourly love, it was implied that one of the main characters (Ingela) was of Finnish background. Ingela was, of course, a rather unpleasant person. En finne igen! Thanks for this, Sweden ;)

All in all, however, the film was a very traditional slasher film. I don't like this kind of movies. However, this was more entertaining than average in this genre.

When I saw that this is a Nordic horror, I pretty much knew it was going to be a comedy as well. The horror genre, even tho it is quite ok in that part of Europe, took the comedy route little by little, and I have to say, it now comes close to perfection. An incredible blend of comedy and kills, fast paced, quirky and overall fun, Konferensen is definitely a must see!

It manages to draw you in with an easy formula, excellent dialogue, great characters, the simplest of location - in the woods horror - but what great woods they got, a plot that reveals itself to be easily predictable yet nevertheless, fun!

The killer has a nice mask, which is always a bonus in these situations, his reasons are understandable yet see through, but the kills are very inventive. Lovely cut scenes between hunts and partying, kills and drinking, make this movie a lovely experience.

I overall knew from the start that I was going to enjoy it, thus I pressed Start with a few expectation, so I am very happy to say, I was not disappointed. This is why I am definitely going to recommend this to everyone, a movie that deserves a little recognition, because it's funny, fresh and well executed.

Cheers!

Plot

A team-building conference for municipal employees turns into a nightmare when accusations of corruption begin to circulate and plague the work environment. At the same time, a mysterious figure begins murdering the participants.

Cast

Unfamiliar

Verdict

Slasher is a sub-genre I grew up with but honestly was never very enamored with. Give me monsters, zombies, vampires, something psychological but a person in a mask running around being all stabby stabby? Meh.

This Swedish stab at the genre has a couple of things going for it, the killer looks fantastic and the ensemble of characters is varied and much appreciated in a world of generic 20 something pretty people type films.

However, that's mostly it. The whole film is played very safe and doesn't bring much to the table you won't have seen a hundred times before.

It's not bad, but if you've watched many slashers you'll have pretty much seen this.

Rants

I recently watched one of the new Scream movies, you had characters stabbed 20+ times, people stabbed had the knife pulled up through their innards, people smashed in the head with bricks and then 5 4 3 2 1 they're up, running, fighting, chatting as if it never happened. Slasher shouldn't be a genre you can't take seriously and the modern king of slashers should be taking it more seriously. Absurd, laughable and as believable as Roadrunner vs Coyote in it's approach. Can't wait for an anvil to drop on a characters head in the next Scream movie and them to walk it off.

Breakdown

Great mix of characters Solid killer appearance.

Mediocre overall Instantly forgettable.

First the story line, A team of municipal employees go for a team outing in the name of competency building exercise, which ironically becomes one when a killer starts killing the team and the crew!

Not a comedy-horror :- I wasn't expecting too much horror as this movie was mentioned as a satirical-horror or a horror-comedy.

Pros & Cons :- + The movie takes a pretty intense horror tone without wasting much time, even as soon as the crew settles in.

+ There maybe some comedy elements, but this was a gripping, intense and a full length horror movie for me!

+ I also liked how certain characters with negative intention suffered gruesome deaths.

• I felt the killer got lucky to find most of his victims alone and vulnerable.

Overall, you would still enjoy this movie despite its minor flaws!