Severance (2006)

Dir: Christopher Smith

Starring: A handful of Brits

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: Another bloody office outing.

Plot: A team-building weekend in the mountains of Eastern Europe goes horribly wrong for the sales division of the multi-national weapons company Palisade Defence when they become the victims of a group of crazed killers who will stop at nothing to see them dead.

My Rating: 8/10

Would I watch it again? Yep.

Boy, oh boy was this fun. Smith did a great job balancing humor and horror. Every single one of these characters is likable; some more than others. And that's probably the biggest reason I liked this film. Not only are they likeable but they're all fun. Many of the jokes are sharp and the director takes a lot of the horror cliches and takes them to places we haven't seen. I REALLY like it when that happens. It's fresh.

"The Dancing With The Stars competition has been cancelled for the evening."

Is it scary? Coming from a guy that doesn't scare easily when it comes to movies, it kind of is. Well, more then most are anyway. It has a few intense moments which is something you really don't expect from a film like this. For example, you often know the killer is there but you don't see him/them which heightens the suspense unlike WRONG TURN 2 where we get to see the killers way too much AND they're laughablely stupid-looking. Less is more in this case.

I almost forgot the music. Christian Henson's score is downrighty hysterical! There are the necessary mood cues but the highlight is his light, European, fluffy Viennese waltz theme that completely goes against the action on the screen. Beautifully funny. Absolutely beautiful.

The ending is great and very satisfying with how it ties together the film's opening. Fun stuff. I highly recommend this one.