Severance
Here Is What You Need To Know:
Severance is a interesting film in a few regards. This horror-comedy is really a gruesome horror film with just a couple of brief touches of comedy. That said, Severance is a fun horror film that plays with many of the traditional plotlines so frequented by horror film scripts. The concept of the film in which a group of defense contractors get caught in the woods, stalked and murdered in creative ways, is a entertaining premise for a horror film and leaves one wondering, “why the heck haven’t we seen this before?” So let’s take our hats off to writers James Moran and Christopher Smith for putting a fine twist on the whole, “let’s run around in the woods and kill people” script. Severance is entertaining from beginning to end and has a few, “I can’t believe they just did that” moments, which hey, are becoming increasingly rare. I am being a bit vague on specifics because I don’t want to ruin your fun, don’t read any detailed summaries of the film, just turn off the lights and enjoy a relatively original horror film.
What Was Cool:
-Severance has an original script and is really well-paced.
-Good acting performances flush out what the solid script has to offer. Laura Harris is truly sexy with her short haircut and Tim McInnerny as the corrupt corporate functionary is just plain awesome. You might remember McInnerny from all the Blackadder series and it was fun to see him in a part of this kind. Even the “psycho-killers” do a good job.
-Have you even seen a horror film where victims are savagely murdered through their anus? No? Probably didn’t expect to see anus in a movie review today did you? Well there you go, journey of life and all that crap.
-The mandatory large breast being flashed for no reason.
What Was Stupid:
-The mandatory large breast being flashed for no reason.
-Some things happen in Severance that don’t make much sense, but isn’t that always the case with horror films. A little more fine-tuning on the script could have plugged up some of these simple errors, but it didn’t happen.
-The ending is a little abrupt.
The Film's Real Genius or Geniuses:
There is a lot of attention to detail in many aspects of production. That was nice to see.
Overlooked Performance/Accomplishment:
Writers Moran and Smith did a nice job. Smith also directed. Well-done.
Story A-
Use of Science C
Acting A- (Great acting for a horror film.)
Portrayal of Women B+ (Women are treated as objects of pure sexual desire, but most of the female characters are not any less intelligent than their male counterparts and Laura Harris’s Maggie character is a scrappy, smart fighter, so pretty good overall.)
Visuals-Visuals and Special Effects B
Visuals-Set Design/Props B
Wardrobe/Costumes A
Style/Sex Appeal A
Enjoyability Grade A-
Home Theater/HD Factor B+
Gut Check (Level of Studio Executive Guts) B- (Doesn’t take much bravery to greenlight a smart, original horror film.)
Overall Innovation B+
Overall Grade A-
A Little Fact About Cherie:
Milk is the puss of another animal. Think about it man. Think about it.
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