Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
|
Reviews
Amazon.co.uk Reviews
If a weekend of team building exercises in the woods sounds like your personal idea of torture, spare a thought for the poor pen pushers of Severance. As if the obligatory paintball and trust exercises weren’t enough, there’s a killer lurking outside their cabin--a killer holding a grudge against the unsuspecting employees of Palisade Defense...
Severance is one of the best British horror movies to come out of the last couple of years. It’s smarter than it has any right to be; screenwriter James Moran neatly sidesteps the numerous clichés littering the genre, balancing eye-watering gore with almost surreal humour, while Creep helmer Chris Smith’s assured direction sells even the daftest (and cruellest) moments.
Smith also draws great performances from a talented cast, including Dead Like Me’s Laura Harris, Black Adder’s Darling Tim McInnerny, and Danny Dyer of Mean Machine and The Football Factory.
Horror fans will lap this up; those lacking an iron stomach might watch some scenes from behind laced fingers, but will appreciate the fast-paced action and black humour nonetheless.--Sarah Dobbs
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (2.35:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Alternative Footage, Cast/Crew Interview(s), Commentary, Featurette, Interactive Menu, SYNOPSIS: Ever since Bram Stoker gave Count Dracula a Transylvanian lineage, Eastern Europe has been a familiar setting for horror tales. 'Severance' continues the tradition by turning a corporate retreat in a Hungarian forest into a bloody game of whack-a-mole. (Team building and paintballing are so last year.) Our unsuspecting moles are a grumpy group of pencil-pushers employed by an international weapons manufacturer who find themselves marooned in a rundown lodge. Outside are land mines, bear traps and balaclava-wearing commandos; inside are spiders, rotting floorboards and a file cabinet with dusty records of the attackers, who are either asylum escapees or Balkan war criminals. Kind of a Hobson's choice, really. Briskly directed by Christopher Smith (who also contributed to the screenplay), 'Severance' overcomes its narrative deficiencies with inventive bloodletting and no small amount of wit. (A scene involving resourceful call girls and a lifeline made of lingerie is particularly impressive.) ...Severance
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
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.
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.
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I recently invested in an unlimited pass for the cinema and have since tried to see as many films as possible. I can safly say that this is one of the best so far next to Scorcese's "The Departed".
Good performances all round, a good script and overall good pacing make this film never boring. It may be a tad predictable in the 'whos gonna die next' kinda way and the romantic subplot, but the fun is in seeing how it unravels. There are some genuinely funny moments which contrast nicly with some truely horrific ones. It is also very aware that it is a horror film underneath the comedy but nicely bypasses the pitfalls that so many horror films fall into.
The adverts claimed it was 'the best horror comedy since Shaun of the Dead' and there is certainly no lie there. Some people may even prefer this.
Great film
Good performances all round, a good script and overall good pacing make this film never boring. It may be a tad predictable in the 'whos gonna die next' kinda way and the romantic subplot, but the fun is in seeing how it unravels. There are some genuinely funny moments which contrast nicly with some truely horrific ones. It is also very aware that it is a horror film underneath the comedy but nicely bypasses the pitfalls that so many horror films fall into.
The adverts claimed it was 'the best horror comedy since Shaun of the Dead' and there is certainly no lie there. Some people may even prefer this.
Great film
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Honestly never laughed so much in my life! This film is just hilarious.. Danny Dyers character makes the film.. You need to see it to believe just how unbelieveably funny it is.. It is somewhat "daft" But thats what makes it great.. Im not usually a fan of comedy horrors but you just need to watch this! Guaranteed laugh out loud film! Xo
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Very funny!
I will begin with admitting that before I watched this film the name Danny Dyer on the cover of a DVD was enough to put me off from watching it but I caught this on late night tv a... Read more
Published 5 months ago by S. Storey
severance
Excellent black comedy with an array of characters too close to corporate reality - I have worked with some in my time - forced to come together in circumstances not of their... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Kevin Baines
Painfully slow
It is the usual type of film you know somethings going to happen, but sorely lacks atmosphere, suspense and tension If you like this Director's work, purchase and enjoy, but... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Thelma L. Workman
'Don't Bears cross borders'!
Severance is a gory film with some fairly intense horror but it's also very funny. The actors which include Toby Stephens, Laura Harris, Danny Dyer and Tim Mcinnerny all seem to be... Read more
Published 10 months ago by j.r
Thrills and Chills
So basically this is when Friday 13th meets Shaun of the Dead= gory, funny and witty but however it's not so "comic" as Shaun of the Dead. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Juhani Jääskeläinen (Finland)
Biting British Brutality.
Eastern Europe wilderness and the sales division of weapons company Palisade Defence are meant to be having a team building weekend. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Spike Owen
Hysterically Funny
Although the plotline was a little bit cliched, it always felt like that was what it intended. You knew what was coming, and I guessed who the survivors of the trip would be... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Hehehe
Entertaining!
Severance is clearly tongue in cheek. It is not meant to be taken seriously so it can be judged as a parody on the slasher genre. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Justice Peace
Could have been half-decent, was dreadful...
The setting for this British comedy horror is the Hungarian backwoods. An office group on a team-building exercise end up in the middle of nowhere with some unfriendly... Read more
Published 15 months ago by ric03
You've Got To Laugh. Or Have You?
There are some serious films which play like comedies but simply aren't funny and I don't mean that they are unintentionally funny because they are so bad. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Eddie
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
