Severance (2006)

During a team-building retreat in the mountains a group of sales representatives are hunted down one by one.

Director:

Christopher Smith

Writers:

James Moran (screenplay), Christopher Smith (screenplay)

Stars:

Danny Dyer, Laura Harris, Tim McInnerny

3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Toby Stephens	...	Harris
Claudie Blakley	...	Jill
Andy Nyman	...	Gordon
Babou Ceesay	...	Billy
Tim McInnerny	...	Richard
Laura Harris	...	Maggie
Danny Dyer	...	Steve
David Gilliam	...	George
Julianna Drajkó	...	Olga (as Juli Drajkó)
Judit Viktor	...	Nadia
Sándor Boros	...	Coach Driver
Levente Törköly	...	Lodge Killer
János Oláh	...	Flamethrower Killer
Attila Ferencz	...	Head-squish Killer
Bela Kasi	...	Headbutt Killer

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | exploitation | grindhouse film | absurd violence | backwood slasher | 

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Taglines:

The Company Is Making Cutbacks

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Genres:

Comedy | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong bloody violence, language, drug content and some sexuality/nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

The logo for Palisades Defence - more or less a square with one corner missing - is a sly hint at the company's way of doing business: by "cutting corners".

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Goofs

(at around 31 mins) The Russian troops in the flashback are wearing currently issued German Flecktarn camouflage.

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Quotes

Steve: [In response to Bill saying he likes Maggie] No offence mate, but you've got more chance of getting shit from a rocking horse.

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Connections

References Three Colors: White (1994)

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Soundtracks

We'll Meet Again
Performed by Ed Harcourt
Written and Composed by Hugh Charles & Ross Parker
Published by Dash Music Co Ltd
Arranged by Seanine Joyce & Christian Henson
Strings Conducted by Seanine Joyce
Produced by Christian Henson
Ed Harcourt appears courtesy of EMI Records Limited

User Reviews

Funny, scary, clever and even moving

I was a big fan of Chris Smith's previous film Creep and had heard this was even better so I had high expectations going in. They were completely surpassed by this superlative slice of hilarious horror action.

The way the film combines humour and horror is skilled and the script is smarter than average for the genre. The film works better as a comedy and there are some absolutely precious comedy moments that I won't detail here as I don't want to spoil any of them. Suffice to say that the audience were busily quoting them and some of the better of the fantastic lines of dialogue after the screening. I feel people will be quoting some of these lines for years!

On a more serious note, there are some seriously scary scenes in the picture and even a couple of deaths of some of the more sympathetic characters that are actually quite moving.

The cast is also perfect, none of them put a foot wrong. Laura Harris completely kicks ass as the heroine.

I sorta want to see a sequel but heaven knows where they'd go with it.

Overall, I loved the film - it's made by a writer and director who are genuine horror fans and it shows. They're also both very talented.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [United States]

Country:

UK Germany Hungary

Language:

English Hungarian Russian

Release Date:

25 August 2006 (UK)

Also Known As:

Severance

Filming Locations:

Mountain range Mátra, Hungary

Box Office

Budget:

GBP5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,316, 20 May 2007

Gross USA:

$137,221

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,515,163

Company Credits

Production Co:

Qwerty Films, Dan Films, HanWay Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min 90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1