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

Synopsis
Seven colleagues from Palisade Defence embark on a team-building weekend away in Hungary only to find their holiday being sabotaged by a mysterious enemy. A motley group of employees from the company find themselves abandoned in a spooky forest when their coach driver refuses to continue to their destination. The group includes sycophantic manager Richard (Tim McInnerny, Darling in BLACKADDER), driven supervisor Maggie (Laura Harris, 24), and drug-taking joker Steve (Danny Dyer, THE BUSINESS). The septet quickly get lost. After taking some Mexican magic mushrooms, Steve swears that a balaclava-clad man crept up on him. Maggie dismisses Steve's alarm as a side-effect of the hallucinogenic drugs. The group come across an unwelcoming concrete building and decide to set up base there. When one of the group discovers a room filled with files in Russian and stamped with a logo similar to Palisade's, a number of conspiracy theories are suggested. When members of the group start being tracked down by an enemy intent on violence, the group realise that one of the theories may not be so ludicrous. The first half of SEVERANCE is played as a straight comedy, making an initial impression that the film is trying to be a holiday special of THE OFFICE, albeit with broader characterisation. Much like HOSTEL, the film switches half way through and becomes a bloody and gory horror film. Christopher Smith--who made the terrifying CREEP--has made a film that is not only packed full of humour but also features some inventively nasty scenes of bloodshed.