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Severance movie review

It’s no secret. The American horror scene is all but dead. The ultra corporatization of the horror film has stuffed our cineplexes with remakes, sequels, and tired “re-imaginings” on a near weekly basis. Take The Hills Have Eyes 2, Black-Christmas, Hostel, and Rob Zombie’s upcoming empty-headed Halloween remake for instance. The British horror scene, on the other hand, is positively thriving. Horror’s renegade spirit is alive and well in films such as Shaun of the Dead, The Descent, and Evil Aliens – all infinitely more memorable than any American entry in their theatrical year. Now, you can add to that list, Severance, Christopher Smith (Creep) and James Moran’s wry, witty terror that featurs just as many laughs as genuine scares.

Billed as “The Office meets Deliverance,” Severance tells the tale of a weekend team building trip gone horribly awry. Expecting a series of ropes courses, problem solving sessions, and the usual co-worker annoyances, a busload of employees of international munitions supplier, Polaris, instead find themselves, and their luggage, tossed to the side of the road, forced to hotfoot it to their destination. As night falls they come across a modest domicile. Completely vacant, and seemingly untended for months they speculate it might be an abandoned insane asylum/war-criminal hideout/sex-farm (take your pick). Either way, it’s not the promised “luxury cabin” in the woods. Opting to make the best of the situation, the team-manager decides they should hold up for the night and attempt some of their exercises in the morning. Things seem to be go about as expected, until the team discover booby trapped meadows, platforms in the trees, and even more disturbingly, the fact that they are being watched by an ever-present observer in the woods.

Now, woodland slashers are nothing new. Nor are ill fated camping trips by city folk, cannibalistic terrors, or torture sessions. Severance indeed features all of these, but the way in which Smith and Moran go about them is completely fresh and new. First and foremost are the mashup of genres: office comedy and horror film. In fact, in the third act the film becomes a full on actioner. Secondly you have the film’s cast of characters. All the usual office stereotypes are present and accounted for: the slick salesman, the bookish advocate, the stoner/slacker, the over-eager brown-noser, the incompetent boss, and the “hot chick”. But instead of just leaving it at that, Severance uses these stereotypes as templates on which to build some truly memorable characters. Each one is fully fleshed out and endearing (even the asshole sales guy) to the degree that you really do not want to see anything bad happen to them. Thirdly, the film employs a rather cruel irony in dispatching those workers to whom fate proves unkind. The end situations of each and every one are directly linked to some defining trait, discussion, or moment earlier in the film. I won’t spoil anything, but be sure to keep an ear open through every discussion, and an eye on any and all quirks. Lastly, the film plays with, and smartly tweaks near every horror cliché in the book. Startling moments, anticipated accidents, creepy crawlers, all are displayed and inverted, with payoffs far more enjoyable and unexpected than any I’ve seen in recent years.

Now, as I’ve said with many a film, none of this would work if it wasn’t for an exceedingly competent cast. Everyone here does a bang-up job. Toby Stephens, Claudie Blakley, Andy Nyman, Babou Ceesay, Tim McInnery, Laura Harris, and of course, Danny Dyer are absolutely perfect. Special note: Dyer’s mushroom trip is absolutely priceless. Though a sequel with everyone isn’t possible, I wouldn’t mind seeing the cast reassembled in another project.

In the interest of preserving surprise, I’ll just leave it at that. The only concern I have with Severance is its lack of visibility, what with being released the same weekend as Pirates of the Carribean 3. Those of you across the pond have probably already seen and supported Severance, but for those of you in the states, Pirates will still be there next weekend. Please, do yourself a favor and go see Severance.

About the Author

Chris Nelson has been a film fanatic since age six. A former film and English major, he is now a Software Engineer and contract Technical Writer living in the Silicon Valley.