 Magnolia // Buy from Amazon.comWorking nine to five can be a killer but when a dreaded |team-building corporate retreat turns deadly for a group of office mates, overtime will be the least of their worries in Severance, debuting on Special Edition DVD September 18 from Magnolia Home Entertainment. Deemed as "'The Office' meets The Hills Have Eyes" (Dennis Dermody, Paper), Severance is from the dynamic team behind the underground horror and fantasy hit Creep. Nominated by the British Independent Film Awards for Best Production, the film won the Jury Choice Award at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival and was an Official Selection at the Telluride, Toronto and Locarno Film Festivals. Director Christopher Smith "cleverly plays with - and against - the conventions of the slasher genre (Philadelphia Inquirer) in the "best horror-comedy in years" (Horrorview.com). Following a near-accident while on route to a team-building weekend at their company's newly built luxury spa lodge in the middle of the mountains, a group of seven employees find themselves lost and facing a deadly enemy, turning their retreat into a bloody office outing. Having never heard of this film before, the synopsis above was enough to intrigue me into requesting a review copy when the email was sent to the mighty DVDschlock.com, figuring that, even if it was terrible & stinky, it should at least be good for some yuks, or some yucks. Thankfully, I was write on both counts, and it ended up being a pretty good movie, all in all! Definitely low(er) budget, with all the trappings that come along with that (acting talent, quality of special effects, etc.), "Severance" bills itself as a mash-up between "The Office" (U.K.) and "Deliverance), and I would mostly agree. While not as drop-down funny as the former, or sickenly (is that a word?) disturbing as the latter, this one manages to mix just the right elements of both to make you chuckle while you groan, or laugh while you cover your eyes. (Some very inventive death sequences in this one!) Fun stuff, mostly original, and wholly entertaining. Worth checking out. Video The 16x9 anamorphic widescreen transfer is pretty solid throughout, but the film does have a pretty dull/muted color palette (even during daytime scenes.) Audio A Dolby 5.1 surround mix delivers the sonic goodness in fine form, with good use of the surrounds at the approrpriate times. Extras Closing Thoughts Dark, humourous slasher flick + TONS of extras = cool lil' flick worthy of your time & attention Labels: review |
