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Movies / On DVD / Severance
Severance

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Severance (2007)

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Reviews Counted:84

Fresh:55

Rotten:29

Average Rating:6.1/10

Consensus: A twisted and bloody spoof on office life, Severance nicely balances comedy and nasty horror.

Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Theatrical Release:Apr 20, 2007 Limited

Box Office: $66,719

Synopsis: A team-building exercise goes horribly wrong in this horror comedy, where HOSTEL meets OFFICE SPACE. A group of Brits (and a single, sexy American blonde played by Laura Harris of DEAD LIKE ME)... A team-building exercise goes horribly wrong in this horror comedy, where HOSTEL meets OFFICE SPACE. A group of Brits (and a single, sexy American blonde played by Laura Harris of DEAD LIKE ME) travels through the forests of Hungary to a remote lodge in order to mix business with pleasure. Led by their manager, Richard (Tim McInnerny, BLACKADDER), the co-workers soon realize that their trip is less about trust falls and rope courses than it is about death and destruction. Someone has targeted the team, and begins to take down the cubemates one by one. SEVERANCE is savvy and sly, but it never lets the comedy override the onscreen horror. Humor may temper the disturbing visuals, but this British comedy isn't SHAUN OF THE DEAD. It's far less flashy and a good deal darker, but it all works to great effect. This film is more in the spirit of DOG SOLDIERS, a movie with bleak gallows humor amid its blood and gore. In addition to its smart satire of office culture, SEVERANCE features stomach-churning scenes that rival the violence in films from the SAW trilogy. This film doesn't rely on A-list stars, with McInnerny vying with Harris and Toby Stephens (DIE ANOTHER DAY) for the position of most recognizable actor. But regardless of its lack of marquee talent, SEVERANCE ably mixes guts and giggles to create an entertaining and gruesome film. [More]

Starring: Danny Dyer, Laura Harris, Tim McInnerny, Toby Stephens

Starring: Danny Dyer, Laura Harris, Tim McInnerny, Toby Stephens, Claudie Blakely, David Gilliam, Andy Nyman, Babou Ceesay

Director: Christopher Smith

Director: Christopher Smith
Screenwriter: James Moran, Christopher Smith
Producer: Jason Newmark
Studio: Magnolia Pictures

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Release:

Nov 30, 1999

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region 2
  • Dual Layer
  • Widescreen - 2.35

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
  • Subtitles - English
 
 
 
 

Reviews for Severance

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1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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The most outrageous and exhilarating moments of Severance zip by like Apocalypto on whippets, gory but hilarious.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
05/16/07
Jurgen Fauth
Jurgen Fauth
About.com

For the most part, the scary parts are the scary parts, the funny parts are the funny parts, and never the twain meet.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
09/12/07
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

A The Office-style comedy of corporate manners crossed with a Friday the 13th-style slasher movie, with encoded satire on U.S./British foreign policy and birds coming home to roost.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
02/27/07
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer
Apollo Guide

Like the Britain of Tony Blair, it's neither bloody awful nor bloody great. Which isn't to say, rest assured, that there isn't plenty of blood.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
06/08/07
Marc Savlov
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle

It's remarkable how much just a modicum of wit can spice up the standard backwoods slice-and-dice. Scaring people with a horror film is easy; entertaining them takes a little skill.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
05/19/07
Scott Tobias
Scott Tobias
AV Club

mixing comedy with horror's never an easy business, but time and again Severance cuts it.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
09/16/06
Matthew Leyland
Matthew Leyland
BBC

A comical cautionary tale which ought to trigger a little paranoia in the souls of any advocates of the Military-Industrial Complex.

Full Review Source: Black Star News | comment Comment
05/16/07
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
Black Star News

The filmmakers want to have it both ways -- the funny and the sadistic -- but rarely do so at the same time with any success.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
06/01/07
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Peter Keough
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix

There's nothing new or noteworthy here.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
12/07/06
Shlomo Schwartzberg
Shlomo Schwartzberg
Boxoffice Magazine

For decades horny teens have been the slasher movie's victims of choice, but this darkly funny British import finds more deserving targets: the sales team of an international weapons manufacturer.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
06/01/07
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

Splatter comedy meets comic splatter in this brash crossover film that puts seven white-collar workers in the scary wilds of Hungary where psycho killer Russian ex-military lurk.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
06/01/07
Bill Stamets
Bill Stamets
Chicago Sun-Times

Funny and scary in deftly equal measure.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
05/31/07
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Will surely make you laugh, but the guffaws are few and far between. That's hardly a caveat when you consider the statement made here, though...

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
07/13/07
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

An old-school slasher flick with a really quick sense of broad British wit, a whole lot of energy, and a seriously strong cast.

Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment Comment
10/01/06
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
Cinematical

The sadistic silliness is given a heavy-hand.

Full Review Source: Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) | comment Comment
06/04/07
Mark Palermo
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

"Severance" is just enough of an exploitation satire (think, Roger Corman in his heyday) to hold your interest beyond its gratuitous knife, blood and breast recipe for suspense and shock.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
06/05/07
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

The strong cast of somewhat familiar faces meshes well, and the film's first half contains some wonderful byplay.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/24/07
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

[Inserts] the funniest bits of British comedy into the type of gory slasher flick that will make even the most jaded horror fan giddy.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
05/18/07
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

Like a special episode of 'The Office,' scripted by Clive Barker.

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
06/19/07
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
 
 
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September 18, 2007: RT on DVD: It's Death Proof Time!
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September 13, 2007: A comical cautionary tale which ought to trigger a little paranoia in the souls of any advocates of the Military-Industrial Complex. Opens in new window
More...

May 17, 2007: Critical Consensus: Third Time's Not the Charm for "Shrek"
America is going green this week: "Shrek the Third" (featuring the voices of Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy, and Antonio Banderas) is our single new wide release. Critics... More...

April 28, 2007: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
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